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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 

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A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES 










Captain Bainbridge Placed his Sword again 
in his Hand. Page i 6 y . 




A SON OF 
“OLD IRONSIDES 

THE STORY OF A BOY ON THE UNITED STATES 
FRIGATE CONSTITUTION DURING THE 
WAR OF 1812, WHEN SHE WAS 
“A WHOLE NAVY” 



JOHN STUART BARROWS 


Illustrated by 

FRANK T. MERRILL 



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BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 

c-HS 13 


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Copyright, 1931, 

By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 
All Rights Reserved 
A Son of “Old Ironsides” 



Printed in U. S. A. 


APR 13 193! / 


©CIA 36658 "J 




To REAR ADMIRAL PHILIP ANDREWS, 
U.S.N., whose untiring efforts and patriotic zeal have 
been a most important factor in arousing and sustain¬ 
ing the interest of the citizens of the United States of 
America in the restoration of the U.S. frigate CON¬ 
STITUTION, this book is respectfully dedicated . 


OLD IRONSIDES 

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 


Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! 

Long has it waved on high, 

And many an eye has danced to see 
That banner in the sky; 

Beneath it rung the battle shout, 

And burst the cannon’s roar; 

The meteor of the ocean air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more! 

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood, 
Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood, 
And waves were white below, 

No more shall feel the victor’s tread, 

Or know the conquered knee; 

The harpies of the shore shall pluck 
The eagle of the sea! 

O better that her shattered hulk 
Should sink beneath the wave; 

Her thunders shook the mighty deep, 
And there should be her grave; 

Nail to the mast her holy flag, 

Set every threadbare sail, 

And give her to the god of storms— 

The lightning and the gale! 

Courtesy of Houghton, Mifflin Company. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

PAGE 

i 

The Poor Farm at Byfield . 

ii 

ii 

The Voyage of the Happy Day . 

27 

in 

On the Constitution 

36 

IV 

At Anchor in Boston Harbor 

54 

V 

Out of Boston. Cruising East¬ 



ward . 

68 

VI 

Fighting the Guerriere . 

89 

VII 

In Boston Harbor .... 

121 

VIII 

The Fight with the Java 

146 

IX 

Back Again in Boston 

179 

X 

On the Way to “ Erie ” . 

198 

XI 

Battle of Lake Erie .... 

230 

XII 

Perry’s Victory. 

246 

XIII 

Steering Southward .... 

261 

XIV 

Chasing and Being Chased . 

287 

XV 

“ Cruising Again ” .... 

305 

XVI 

Fighting Two Ships at Once . 

3 i 9 

XVII 

Homeward Bound. 

332 


7 








ILLUSTRATIONS 


Captain Bainbridge placed his sword again 
in his hand (Page 167) . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

The most concerned spectator was Captain 
Dacres.118 

Captain Perry gathered it in his arms . . 248 

John reported to the lieutenant . . . 276 


9 



A SON OF 
“OLD IRONSIDES” 


CHAPTER I 

THE POOR FARM AT BYFIELD 

“ Well, whereVe ye been? ” 

“ After the cows, sir.” 

“ An’ ain’t got ’em? ” 

“ No, sir.” 

“ Well, you march right back, an’ don’t you come 
back without ’em.” 

The speaker was a farmer, in Byfield, who also 
was keeper of the town Poor Farm, and his words 
were addressed to John Heath, a boy of about 
twelve years, who seemed small for his age, be¬ 
cause of his ragged clothes and timid appearance. 
He had gone to drive the cows up from the pasture, 
which was quite a distance from the farm barn. 
Usually they were waiting at the bars, and were 
prompt to follow the lane to the barnyard, but this 
evening the cattle were not at the usual place when 
the boy went for them. They had found a gap in 
the fence, and were enjoying the forbidden pleas¬ 
ures of the rich grass of the hayfield; and as they 
were out of sight, the little fellow had returned to 


12 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


the farmhouse to tell of his fruitless search, and 
ask for assistance; but before he could make known 
his errand, the master of the Farm had ordered him 
to return to his task. 

“ Now go.” 

“ I sha’n’t,” said the boy, “ The cows are lost, 
and I don’t know where to look for them.” 

“ Lost, be they? Well, you find ’em, an’ find ’em 
quick, an’ if you ain’t back with all of ’em before 
sunset I’ll whale ye within an inch of your worth¬ 
less life. Now go.” 

The boy knew what that threat meant. He had 
been punished before, because of his wrongdoings, 
or what the master of the Farm considered wrong¬ 
doing, so he knew there was nothing for him to say 
or to do, but obey the order. 

The boy had not known what it was to have a 
friend since his mother died some months before, 
during the winter. His mother had been obliged 
to seek help from the town because of his father’s 
death, and the loss of their home by fire. What was 
left of the property was taken for debts. The shame 
of the condition broke down the mother’s health; 
she struggled against her poverty until she was car¬ 
ried out of the world by a winter’s cold and fever. 
Then the orphan boy, placed in the Poor Farm by 
the neighbors, had found his life doubly hard, 
missing his parents, and being obliged to work as 
he never worked before. Formerly he could pour 
out his sorrows on his mother’s knee, but now none 


THE POOR FARM AT BY FIELD 13 

of the other inmates of the Farm took any interest 
in him, and they were more ready to tell tales of 
his doings than to show any friendliness. So, chok¬ 
ing back his tears, he turned and retraced his steps 
down the lane, in search of the straying cattle. 

“ It’s strange how that boy never says more than 
he does,” remarked the hired man who acted as 
foreman for the farm. “ I’ve noticed that he spits 
out once, an’ then never says ‘ Aye, yes, or no ’, but 
just obeys orders.” 

“ He knows well enough what he’ll ketch,” said 
the master, “ He is a good boy to work, but he’s ter¬ 
rible set, and when he gets his ugly up, he won’t say 
a word, even if I lick him. He’s just like his 
father.” 

It was an early July evening in the year 1812. 
The sun was about half an hour high and the still¬ 
ness was beginning to be noticeable. The air was 
sweet with the breath of woods and fields, so a walk 
in the pasture in itself was not a hardship; but the 
burden of grief, loneliness, and vexation bore 
heavily on the lad, and the tears in his eyes hid from 
his sight the beauties of nature. He walked along 
the cow-path, thinking how his life had changed, 
and as he went deeper among the bushes in the 
pasture he turned and shook his fist in the direction 
of the farmhouse and the master. 

“ I hate you, and I won’t find your old cows. I’ll 


i 4 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


never come back. I’ll run away, and you can find 
your cows yourself.” 

The words came to his lips suddenly. He had 
thought of running away before the present mo¬ 
ment. Now he had said he would, and he would 
keep his promise to himself. He would run away, 
though he had never considered what it meant to 
run away from home, even such a poor home as the 
Town Farm. He had not thought of where he 
might go, or what he would do when he got there, 
so for the moment the thought appalled him with 
its tremendous possibilities. He was familiar with 
the immediate neighborhood, for he had heard the 
names of the adjoining towns frequently, and once 
he had been with his father to Newburyport, so he 
said, “ I’ll go to Newburyport, and earn my living.” 

Then he thought that perhaps Newburyport 
would be one of the first places where the Farm 
master would look for him. That would not do, he 
must go farther away than that. “ I’ll go to Salem,” 
he said, “ and go to sea,” and immediately he started 
on his first journey into life. 

John’s path down the pasture lane was leading 
him almost directly away from the turnpike, which 
led north toward Newburyport, and southward 
to Georgetown. He knew which way he wanted 
to go, for he remembered looking many times at 
the map of Massachusetts which hung in the farm¬ 
house, and he had seen that Salem was southward 
from Byfield. When he had been in school he had 


THE POOR FARM AT BYFIELD 15 

been taught to stand with his face to the north, and 
that brought his right hand toward the east and the 
rising sun, and his left hand toward the west and 
the setting sun; so his back would be toward the 
south. 

He stopped, looked at the sun, which was then 
just over the low hills, and turned until his left 
hand was held out toward it, and he saw it over his 
shoulder. “ That’s the way I want to go,” said 
he, and he turned and began to work his way 
through the bushes in the direction which he 
thought would bring him to the turnpike. 

Very soon he came to an open field, and there 
he saw the cows straying and feeding. 

“ He’ll think I’m after ’em if he should see me,” 
he said to himself, and then he began to wade boldly 
into the tall grass as if to get beyond the cattle. The 
sun was now almost out of sight, and he could hear 
the conch-shell which was used to call the workers 
from the field to their meals. 

“ I sha’n’t get much supper to-night; and I don’t 
know just when I shall, but I can eat checkerberry 
leaves; so I sha’n’t starve,” and he kept on toward 
the farther side of the field. In a few minutes he 
reached the fence, over which he climbed and then 
continued on his way toward the turnpike. He 
was not out of hearing of the farm, for again he 
heard the sound of the conch-shell. 

“ I’ll bet he’s thinking I hear him. Well, I do, 
but I sha’n’t tell him so, for he won’t ask me,” and 


16 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES'' 


chuckling to himself, John kept bravely on through 
the woods, which were becoming gloomy in the 
twilight. 

The turnpike was not far beyond, and in a few 
minutes John reached it, and began to walk as fast 
as he could in the direction he had chosen. It was 
a good road, and he wore shoes, although they were 
coarse and ungainly, for in those times shoes were 
homemade, or made by travelling cobblers, and they 
were strong and comfortable. 

The Poor Farm was the last house for some dis¬ 
tance on this road, so John felt that he was safe for 
a while, and that they would look for him in the 
pasture and woods before looking elsewhere. 

By walking and resting occasionally, he managed 
to keep awake and going. After a while he saw a 
guide-board at a fork in the road. He went to it, 
and the moonlight was sufficient for him to read: 
“ Salem 2 Miles.’’ Encouraged by this informa¬ 
tion he kept on his way, though he was feeling very 
tired. The moon was beginning to sink in the west, 
and there was a brightness in the eastern sky; the 
wind was coming from that direction, and he could 
feel the freshness of the sea in the air. So John 
decided to go on a little farther, until he found some 
place where he could hide away and sleep, and 
take chances on his safety. 

A little way beyond, just over the wall near the 
road was a little shed-like building used as a hop- 
kiln, where the farmer in the autumn cured his 


THE POOR FARM AT BYFIELD 17 

hops for the market. John turned aside, and 
climbing over the wall went in. The odor of the 
hops still lingered in the shed, though it was almost 
a year since they had been housed there. The shed 
was tight and cozy, and he was too tired to be par¬ 
ticular, so he lay down on the rough floor, with his 
arm for a pillow, and, made more drowsy by the 
odor of hops, he was soon asleep. 

Meanwhile John’s absence was noted at Byfield. 
The cows had found themselves, and had come up 
to the bars at the end of the lane, where they stood 
bellowing to be let out. At last the hired man went 
over and, dropping the bars, drove the cows to the 
barn. There was no boy in sight or hearing, and 
when he reached the barn the master asked where 
John was. “ I can’t tell ye,” said the hired man. 
“ He wa’n’t with the cattle, so I drove ’em up. I 
didn’t hear him anywhere. Maybe he’s lost or 
hidin’.” 

“ ‘ Hidin’,’ I guess,” said the master. “ He knows 
what he’ll get when he comes home, so he’s puttin’ 
if off as long as he can. I’ll give him a ‘ hidin’ ’ 
when I lay my hands on him! ” Then they went 
about the evening chores, and to supper. 

Nine o’clock came, and no boy. The master 
closed the doors of the house, after going out and 
looking and listening. There was no sound of a 
calling child from anywhere in the gloom. The 
loss of a pauper was nothing to him, and he did not 


1 


18 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES ’ > 


purpose to lose a night’s rest over this one gone. So 
saying, “ We’ll set the dog on him to-morrow,” he 
went in and went to bed. 

John slept well in his rough quarters. He was 
used to being up with the birds, and in spite of his 
tired body and the long walk he had made during 
the night, he was wide awake by four o’clock, or 
just as the sun was beginning to show over the 
woods. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “ I must 
travel if I’m going to get to Salem ahead of ’em,” 
said he, and though he was hungry, and now was in 
need of breakfast as well as a supper, he jumped 
up, shook himself, and started on the road again. 

In less than an hour he could see the houses in 
Salem. In a little while he was in the streets. 
People were about their houses. He could smell 
breakfasts being prepared, and it made him more 
hungry. “ I guess I don’t get no breakfast this 
mornin’,” said he, though if he ever wanted one, it 
was now. 

John walked along the streets in the direction 
where he thought the wharves might be. His mind 
was set on going to sea, and the sooner he reached 
the harbor, the better for his chances. He found 
that he was headed in the right direction, and in 
a few minutes he saw the masts of vessels, and heard 
the sound of the creak of the sheaves of the blocks 
in the tackle, as sailors were raising sails. 


THE POOR FARM AT BY FI ELD 19 

John sauntered down on the first wharf he came 
to. There were a number of small sailing vessels 
tied to the wharf; a fishing sloop, and two or three 
small schooners. One of them was loaded with 
bundles of shingles, which were piled so high on 
the deck that the crew walked on them as they went 
about their duties. They were overhauling the 
rigging and getting ready to cast off in order to 
begin their voyage. 

On the end of the wharf was a pile of articles in¬ 
tended for the schooner. There was a big bag con¬ 
taining what seemed to be potatoes. This bag was 
divided into two parts by being tied in the middle. 
A bushel basket containing a quantity of provisions 
of different kinds, and a jug of molasses standing 
guard, promised good food; to which were added 
a pail of salt meat and a wooden firkin with a cover. 
The skipper of the schooner was standing down near 
the tiller, and was directing his crew of three men 
in their work of getting ready. 

“ Here, boy,” he said to John, “ bear a hand and 
help get that stuff on board,” pointing to the bundles 
of food; and as he spoke a sailor on the deck-load 
of shingles swung a block with a hook on it so that 
John could catch it. 

John started quickly and ran to catch the block 
as it swung over the wharf, and put the hook around 
the middle of the bag. The man on the schooner 
hauled in on the rope, and the bag rose up, swung 
off and aboard the vessel, when it was lowered to 


20 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


the shingle pile. The sailor then sent the block 
back to John, who hooked on the firkin, and so on 
until all was aboard. 

“ Where’s Aunt Polly’s roll of cloth? ” asked the 
skipper of any one who might answer. 

“ I do’no’,” said the man with the tackle. 

“ You lubber; didn’t you bring it down? ” 

“ No, I ain’t seen it. I ain’t been off the vessel 
this mornin’.” 

“ By thunder!” exclaimed the skipper. “This 
won’t do. Here, Bill Whitcomb; do you know 
where Aunt Polly’s roll of cloth is? She’ll have 
forty fits if I don’t take it to Boston, this time, as I 
agreed. I missed it before, and she give me a 
tongue-lashin’ like I don’t want to ketch again. 
Where is it? ” cried the skipper to a man who put 
his head out of the little companionway in the fore¬ 
castle where a stove-funnel showed above the deck, 
and an odor of frying pork was noticeable. 

“ What’s the matter; can’t ye hear? ” 

“ Hey, what yer say, Captain Brock? ” 

“ I want to know what’s become of Aunt Polly 
Smithwick’s roll of cloth I was goin’ to take to 
Boston.” 

“ Oh, yes; sure enough. I left it up at the head 
* of the wharf so that I could lug the victuals down,” 
said Bill Whitcomb, who was doing duty as cook 
as well as sailor. 

“ Well, boy, you seem fit in handy like; you run 
up to the head of the wharf, and see if you can find 


21 


THE POOR FARM AT BY FIELD 

a roll of cloth, and bring it down here,” said the 
skipper. 

John turned and hurried up the wharf. He did 
not quite know why he should be so ready to mind 
the orders of a man whom he had never seen before. 
He was his own master now, and no one was to give 
him orders. But the old habit of minding when he 
was told to do anything caused him to start at once. 

Just then the thought came into John’s mind: 

“ I’ll ask him to let me go to Boston with him,” 
and in the hope that this new-born desire would have 
a favorable answer, John ran to the head of the 
wharf, where, leaning against a pile of shingles, was 
a roll wrapped in a white cloth, carefully sewed. 
He took hold of it, and, though it was a good load 
for him, managed to get it on his shoulder and stag¬ 
ger down the wharf to the schooner. 

The wharf seemed long, and the roll of cloth 
seemed to grow heavier at every step, but John 
struggled manfully with his load, and just as he 
was about to drop it to take breath and a new hold, 
he stopped at the end of the wharf and up-ended it 
off his shoulder. 

“ Pretty good for a little feller. ’Twas a heavy 
load wa’n’t it? ” asked the skipper pleasantly. “ If 
I’d ’a’ known it was so heavy, I’d ’a’ sent Bill for it.” 
As he said this he grinned at the boy. 

John was pleased and encouraged by the kindly 
way the skipper spoke, so he said as he wiped his 


22 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES" 


face on his arm, “ I did it, all right. Want it on 
the ship? ” 

“ Yes, we’ll take it on the 1 ship ’, I reckon,” said 
the skipper, and he laughed at John’s word for the 
schooner. The sailor who was handling the tackle 
put a small rope on the hook, and swung the block 
to John to send it aboard. 

John never had been used to loading vessels with 
a tackle, and knew nothing of the bends and hitches 
used by sailors to fasten ropes, but he managed to 
get the rope around the middle of the roll, and 
slipped it on the hook as the weight drew it tight. 

It rode safely, and was on the schooner in a moment. 

“ You seem to be a handy boy; want to go to Bos¬ 
ton with us?” asked the skipper, and John was so 
surprised at the unexpected, but longed-for invita¬ 
tion, that he was hardly able to stammer, “ Y-y-yes, 
sir. I guess I do!” 

“ Well, if your folks are willin’, an’ can get along > 
without you; run and tell ’em, and come right back. 
Say, you’re goin’ with Cap’n Brock.” 

John hesitated. He hardly knew what to do or 
say. He knew he ought to tell the truth, but he 
was afraid if he did, the captain might not want a 
runaway boy. 

“ Come, come, my boy! We can’t wait; we’re 
losin’ the tide. How long will it take ye to run 
home and ask yer folks? ” 

“ Captain Brock, I-I ain’t got no folks,” stam¬ 
mered John, deciding to tell the truth. 


THE POOR FARM AT BYFIELD 23 

“‘Ain’t got no folks’!” exclaimed Captain 
Brock. “ Who be ye, then, and where ye from? ” 
“ What ye doin’, all alone, ’round here? ” 

“ I ran away from the Poor Farm. My father 
and mother are dead, and I ain’t got no one who 
cares about me. They didn’t treat me kind at the 
Poor Farm, so I ran away, and I ain’t goin’ back 
again. Please, Captain Brock, take me somewhere, 
so long as it’s away from here,” and John almost 
began to cry. 

“ So ye be an orphan, and ran away from the Poor 
Farm. What Poor Farm? ” asked Captain Brock. 

“ The Byfield one. I walked all night, and 
didn’t have anything to eat, and Pm hungry,” said 
John trying to speak without sobbing. 

“ Well, well, boy,” said the Captain kindly, 
“ you’ve had a hard time, I guess. Here, cook! ” 
calling to the man in the cook’s little cuddy. “ Give 
this boy something to eat. He’s worked well for 
us, and he deserves a breakfast. There, boy; you 
go get something in your stomach, an’ when you 
feel better, we’ll talk about it. Run along.” 

John needed no second invitation. He ran over 
the deck-load to the cook, who gave him a bucket to 
sit on, and filled a plate with some hash which smelt 
savory with onions; a piece of fish, and a great piece 
of corn bread. John sat down and took the food, 
eating it greedily. 

“ Here, boy! ” cried the cook, “ Don’t eat so fast. 
That ain’t all the food there is. We’ve got some 


24 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

more. Eat slower, and it’ll do ye more good. 
Where’d ye come from? ” 

John saw that he had another friend in the cook, 
so he told him. 

“ Do you think I can go with you? I want to 
go to sea and be a sailor,” said the earnest boy. 

“ Well, my boy,” replied the cook, as he gave 
John another piece of corn bread, “ that’s for Cap’n 
Brock to say. He’s a good man, and just, and if 
thar’s a chance, he’ll give it to ye. After you’ve 
eat, go and see him.” 

When John went below, Captain Brock turned to 
the other man on deck, and said, “ I wonder if that 
boy’s tellin’ the truth. He appears truthful, and 
he knows how to work; took hold well. He ain’t 
the stuff to make into a pauper, and I don’t know 
but what I could get him a place on a ship for 
foreign parts, under a good captain who would 
treat him right. Think we better take him to 
Boston? ” 

“Why not, Cap’n? The Poor Farm don’t 
need him, an’ we do. You ain’t robbin’ the cradle 
of any home hereabouts, an’ if you’re satisfied he tells 
the truth, nobody’ll be out anything but some food, 
an’ we’ve got enough of that.” 

“ Here he comes. I’ll talk with him some more, 
and see if his story hangs together,” said Captain 
Brock. 

“ Feel better, boy? ” asked the captain, kindly. 

“Yes, sir, and I thank you for my breakfast. 


THE POOR FARM AT BY FIELD 25 

Now, what can I do to pay for it? I ain’t got a 
penny.” 

“ Oh, you paid for it by helpin’ us load. What’s 
your name? ” 

“ John Heath, sir.” 

“Well, Johnnie, are you sure you told me the 
truth about running away? ” 

“ Yes, sir. I told you just as it was. They didn’t 
treat me right and when I had a chance to run away, 
I cut it. Please, Captain Brock, don’t let ’em come 
and ketch me. I shall die if I have to go back 
there again,” pleaded John. 

“ Well, Johnnie,” said the captain. “ You seem 
to be a good worker, and as we’re short one hand, 
I’ll ship ye as a ‘ boy ’ for the v’yage to Boston. 
Then, if ye do well, and get on all right, I’ll see what 
can be done for ye to go to sea from Boston. How’s 
that? ” 

“ Captain Brock, I thank you very much. 
Now what shall I do? ” 

“You go ashore, Johnnie, and untie that rope. 
You can pull it out by the end, an’ throw it to me. 
Then, go an’ untie that other one,” said the captain, 
pointing to the hawsers that held the schooner to 
the wharf. 

“ Yes, sir, but how’ll I get back on the ship? ” 

“ Oh, we’ll hold the ‘ ship ’ long enough for you 
to jump aboard,” replied the captain, again smiling 
at John’s calling the schooner a “ ship.” 

John acted promptly, and found it was easy to 


26 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


cast off the ropes. He ran to the other post and 
freed that rope, which was quickly drawn aboard. 
One of the men was holding the schooner by a 
boat hook on the cap-rail of the wharf, and as John 
jumped aboard, he released the hook and pushed 
against the wharf. As soon as the schooner began 
to move, he ran to help the other man haul up the 
sails, as the captain was at the tiller in the stern. 
As soon as the sails were up, the schooner felt the 
wind and gained headway. The skipper steered 
her carefully among other vessels, and in a few 
minutes she was moving out of the harbor. 

John was in a new world. For the first time 
he was somewhere else than on solid ground. He 
never had stepped on a boat of any kind until this 
morning; and now he was on a big one, which was 
taking him away from the land, away from where 
he had lived, and for the moment he felt a home¬ 
sick sensation, and almost wished he had not left 
Byfield. Then he swallowed hard, and walked 
to where the captain was moving the tiller from 
side to side as he worked the schooner out toward 
the ocean. 

“How do ye like it, Johnnie?” asked the 
Captain. 

“ Captain Brock, I’m glad you let me come! ” 


CHAPTER II 


THE VOYAGE OF THE HAPPY DAY 

It was an uneventful passage for the Happy Day 
from Salem to Boston, but for John it was the event 
of his life. The whole experience was most novel. 
He went about over the deck-load and saw every¬ 
thing that could be seen. Fortunately, the sea was 
quite smooth, the wind being light, but enough to 
keep the schooner moving ahead on a steady tack. 
The motion was so slight and regular that John had 
no sensations of seasickness, and when the cook 
pounded on a pan for dinner, John was as ready as 
any one. 

“ Well, my boy,” said the skipper as the little 
crew sat down together in the little cuddy, “ how’s 
she headin’? ” 

This was a new form of salutation to John, so he 
could only say, “ I don’t know what you mean, 
Captain.” 

“ My boy; that was only a way sailor folk say, 
‘ How are you gettin’ along ’. So I’ll ask ye that,” 
replied the skipper good-naturedly. 

“ I guess I’m getting along all right, and I’ve 
been headin’ everywhere; all over the ship. I 


27 


28 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


wish you’d tell me, Captain, what ‘ starboard ’ and 
‘ larboard ’ mean, that I have heard the man at that 
wheel say so many times. I wondered if he was 
saying some kind of a sailor’s prayers,” said John in 
a most honest manner, not understanding, then, why 
the men at the table laughed at him. 

“ Well, I’ll tell ye, boy,” said the skipper, “ that 
ain’t just such a prayer as the parson says in meetin’ 
on Sunday, but it means almost as much to a sailor, 
for those words mean how he should go. ‘ Star¬ 
board ’ means the right side of a vessel; and ‘ lar¬ 
board ’ means the left side. So if a man at the 
wheel is goin’ to steer the vessel in its course, he 
must watch the compass needle, and see that it does 
not point too much to starboard or larboard. So, 
when I tell him to put his helm to starboard, I mean 
for him to turn the wheel to the right, and that 
turns the rudder so that the vessel goes to the left, 
or the other way from what he turned the wheel. 
Do you understand? ” 

“ Yes, sir, I think I can remember that.” 

The Happy Day kept slipping along, and was 
making good headway; but the day was waning, 
and it was well into the afternoon before the little 
schooner sighted the islands at the entrance to 
Boston Harbor. By the time the harbor was 
reached it was toward sunset, but the skipper kept 
the schooner going on, for he wanted to get inside 
before he had to anchor for the night. 

Before the sun had dropped in a great round red 


VOYAGE OF THE u HAPPY DAY” 


29 

disk behind the blue hills in the west, the little 
schooner was well inside, and found a place to 
anchor in the lower harbor. The men shoved the 
anchor overboard, and John watched the cable 
run out until it stopped, as the anchor found a 
holding-place at the harbor bottom. Then they 
all went to supper, and by the time they had finished, 
it was dark enough to think of bed. 

Captain Brock believed in “ early to bed, and 
early to rise,” so he said, “ Well, boys, I guess we 
better turn in, if we expect to make the wharf in 
good season to unload and get out by to-morrow 
night. Come, boy, I guess I can rig a place for 
you.” It was not long before the whole crew, with 
the exception of one man who was standing watch, 
were fast asleep. 

John wondered what they were doing without 
him at Byfield, but it did not worry him. He knew 
that he was well away from that place, and was safe, 
so he was soon sleeping soundly; so soundly that he 
was slow in answering the skipper’s calls to him that 
it was morning, and time to get up. 

The cook was getting breakfast, and the others 
were getting ready to make sail. John stumbled on 
deck, and the cook showed him a bucket of sparkling 
clean sea water for him to wash in. The salt water 
seemed to put life into John, and in a few minutes 
he was ready for whatever might come. 

As soon as breakfast was out of the way, the sails 
were raised, the anchor pulled up by the windlass, 



30 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

and the little schooner began to gather way in the 
summer morning breeze. 

As the Happy Day was making her way up 
Boston Harbor, John sat on the shingles forward, 
with the skipper, who was telling the man at the 
tiller how to steer. In the lower harbor, not a 
great way from where they had anchored for the 
night, but unseen until the morning light revealed 
her, was a warship, with two rows of dark cannon 
showing through her sides; one row from black 
ports in a broad white stripe which ran along her 
side; the other row above, among the rigging of 
the side. She was a frigate, and her masts were 
very high to John who never had seen a larger 
vessel than those in Salem harbor. 

“What’s that ship, sir? ” he asked the skipper. 
As he spoke he pointed at the great warship. 

“ That’s the Constitution. She’s a fine frigate, 
and they say she’s a great fighter; ’s been in the 
Mediterranean some years ago, fightin’ the Barbary 
pirates,” replied Captain Brock. 

“ I think I should like to be on her,” said John 
wistfully as he watched the handsome vessel, where 
signs of life on board were beginning to show. He 
saw the sailors going up the shrouds, and then ly¬ 
ing out on the yards, dropping the sails in the bunt¬ 
lines to dry in the morning sun. It was a beautiful 
sight. Presently a cannon was fired, and the 
United States flag was unfurled from the rigging of 
the ship. 


VOYAGE OF THE “HAPPY DAY" 31 

“ Do you really think you want to be a sailor? ” 
asked Captain Brock. 

“ Yes, sir. I don’t know what else to do.” 

“ Well, I’ll take you to the office, and see if you 
can get on board of her. They say she’s a lucky 
ship, and always has good masters, so it would be a 
good place for you.” 

John a sailor on the Constitution! The thought 
of it was almost too much for the boy. It was 
almost too good to be true; and he sat watching the 
frigate, and dreaming until the skipper said, 

“ Look out, boy! ” 

He turned just in time to dodge the boom of the 
sail, as it jibed, by lying flat on the shingles; and 
then the schooner filled away on the other tack, 
working across the stream, in order to make for the 
wharf where the cargo was to be discharged. Then 
he stood up, and watched the easy way in which 
she was directed into the slip beside the wharf, 
where she stopped just in time, and at the right 
place. 

As soon as the Happy Day was tied to the wharf, 
a tackle was rigged, while the skipper went ashore 
and up to Commercial Street to learn what to do 
with his cargo. He was not gone long, but long 
enough for John to climb up on the wharf to walk 
about and stretch his legs. 

He went about looking at everything which was 
so new to his eyes; the big brick and stone ware¬ 
houses, three and four stories high, where merchants 


32 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

kept their goods which they received from foreign 
lands, in the ships which were at the wharves and 
in the harbor. There were strange-looking men 
on the wharves, sailors in all sorts of clothes, from 
other lands; drays hauled by horses and oxen were 
coming and going, and it was a noisy, busy scene. 

When the skipper came back to the schooner, he 
said to his crew, 

“ There’s goin’ to be a war.” 

“ What’s that? ” exclaimed one of the crew. 

“ 1 Goin’ to be a war.’ Where ’bouts? ” asked 
the Cook. 

“Yes, sir! They’ve declared war against Eng¬ 
land. Did it on June nineteen, and we’re goin’ to 
fight. That’s what makes ’em so busy on board the 
Constitution . They say she’s goin’ to sail just as 
soon as she can get ready. The Britishers chased 
her into the harbor, an’ she’s waitin’ to slip out 
on ’em.” 

John heard these words, but did not say anything. 
The captain had said he would try to get him a 
place on the Constitution, and that to him was as 
good as done. 

“ Air ye goin’ to land these shingles? ” asked one 
of the men. 

“ Yes, we’re goin’ to land them right here and 
now; so get to work, all hands! ” and so saying, he 
slid down a stay and reached the deck; and at once 
began to loosen the fastenings which held the deck¬ 
load of shingles together. 


VOYAGE OF THE U HAPPY DAY ,f 


33 

At noon the cook once more pounded on his pan 
with a spoon, and the tired and hungry crew of the 
Happy Day went to dinner. 

In the afternoon the work of unloading con¬ 
tinued until the last bundle was landed. 

“ Now, sir,” said the skipper, “ I must go up and 
tell ’em we’ve landed the cargo; and see if we get 
one back.” 

“ May I go with you, sir? ” asked John. 

“ Sartin,” said the skipper pleasantly; and to¬ 
gether they walked up the wharf among the drays 
and piles of cargoes. 

As they turned into the street, John noticed two 
sailors who were dressed quite differently from 
those on the Happy Day . The schooner’s crew 
wore almost any kind of clothing, but these sailors 
were neatly dressed in white trousers, and blue jack¬ 
ets over which a broad light-blue shirt-collar was 
laid back on their shoulders. Their hats were black 
and shiny, with straight stiff brims, and on the hat¬ 
band was the word CONSTITUTION. 

“ Captain,” said John, excitedly, “ who are those 
men? ” 

“ They’re sailors off the frigate Constitution. 
That’s the ship you want to get on, isn’t it? ” 

“ Yes sir. Will you speak to those men about 
it? ” pleaded John. 

The captain stopped and spoke to the man-o’- 
war’s-men, “ I say, mates, is the Constitution ship- 
pin’ any of her crew here? ” 


34 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

“ Is she shippin’ a crew? ” asked one of the sailors, 
“ you can bet your bottom dollar she is. War’s de¬ 
clared, and we’ve been chased for three days and 
two nights by a British fleet; but got away from ’em. 
Yes, sir, we want a bigger crew, and we, me and my 
mate here, are lookin’ for likely fellows. Know 
anybody, up your way? ” 

“ Yes, this lad wants to ship.” 

“ Well, my boy, the Constitution ain’t no place for 
children, but we do need powder-monkeys, and 
you’re big enough to make one. We’ll take ye 
down to the frigate, and once ye get on board, I 
guess they ’ll keep ye. Wait here with us; we’re 
goin’ to the cutter soon and will take ye along.” 

“ There, my boy, you’re in luck. Just what ye 
wanted. I’ll leave ye with these men, and I wish 
ye good luck. You’ve been a good boy, and I hope 
you’ll get on well and come back a captain. You’ve 
helped me, so I’ll give ye this,” and the captain of 
the Happy Day slipped a silver dollar into John’s 
hand. “ Good by, my boy. He’s a good boy, 
mates; treat him right and he’ll make a good sailor,” 
and the skipper went on his way happy. Happy 
because he had rid himself of the boy, and so es¬ 
caped from any charge of having abducted him 
from Salem, and any complicity with his escape 
from the Byfield Poor Farm. He was happy, 
also, because he had helped the boy get started on 
a career he thought he wanted. It had cost him a 
silver dollar, and the food the boy had eaten on the 


VOYAGE OF THE “HAPPY DAY” 35 

schooner; but he had worked John enough to pay 
for that, so the skipper considered himself ahead 
in the whole transaction. 

Left now with entire strangers, John Heath began 
a new chapter in his career. 



- 

t. . ' 

CHAPTER III 

ON THE CONSTITUTION 

The two man-o’-war’s-men continued to look 
about for possible recruits. Two sturdy-looking 
young men, who might have been sailors on some 
merchant ship or fishing vessel came along, and 
stopped a moment to stare at the uniformed sailors. 

“ Ship ahoy! ” said one, as he sized up the sailors, 
“ Where do ye hail from, and whither bound? ” 

“ Frigate Constitution, of the United States 
Navy,” replied the sailor who had taken John in 
charge. “ We’re from a race with the Britishers, 
which we won; and now we want men to help us 
chase after them; want to come? ” 

“ By thunder,” said the other, “ what do ye say, 
Walt? ” to his companion. “ We’re just off the 
ship Hannah White, from China; we’re paid off, 
and nowhere to go, except to spend our money, since 
we live in New Haven. What do ye say, Walt? 
Let’s join the war and help give John Bull a drub- 
bin’. If you’ll go, I’ll go.” 

Walt looked the Constitution men over carefully, 
as he would have said, “ from truck to keelson,” 

36 



ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 37 

and said, “ Wall, I dunno; sounds good. Do they 
treat ye well? ” 

“ No man on the Constitution was ever ill-treated 
who didn’t deserve it. We’re well-fed. The 
ship’s comfortable. The officers know their 
business, and treat us right. ‘ Old Ike’s ’ the best 
skipper that ever walked a gangway; we’d do any¬ 
thing for Captain Hull, wouldn’t we Peter? ” ad¬ 
dressing his companion. 

“ You’re right, every word, Bob,” said Peter. 
“ We’ve just had the hardest cruise in three days 
I ever sailed. I never worked so hard in my born 
days; but Old Ike worked just as hard as any of us, 
and he gave us double grog, and no regular watches 
until we was safe away from the Britishers. I’d 

do it again, any time, if he asked for it. You two 

» 

will be the best off ye ever was, if ye join the Con¬ 
stitution. She’s a lucky ship, I tell ye, and I’ll bet 
ye there’ll be plenty of prize-money cornin’ aboard 
before this war’s over. Ye better join.” 

“ Maybe we had. If we don’t ship somewhere, 
we’ll spend our money, or the crimps will get it 
when we’re drunk. I s’pose we might as well be 
on the Constitution as anywhere, and if there’s 
goin’ to be a good war, we stand a good chance of 
getting our share of prize-money. Danged if I 
don’t join. You can put Tom Watson down as 
shippin’ for the war. All I’ve got in the world is 
here in this bundle. I’m ready. Where’s yer 
boat? ” 


38 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES 

“ All right, Tom,” said Walter. “ I’m with ye. 
Ye can put Walter Wright down alongside of Tom. 
I’m all ready, too.” 

“ You two ain’t made no mistake,” said Peter the 
man-o’-war’s-man, “ and ye can come right along 
with us. We’re goin’ to the cutter, with this lad, 
who came right up and wanted to ship.” Then 
the little party of sailors and recruits made their 
way along the street, till they reached a slip be¬ 
tween two wharves, where a man-o’-war’s boat was 
waiting. 

“ If the lieutenant will hear us,” said Bob, “ we 
would like to present to him three likely recruits 
for the frigate,” and touching his hat to the officer 
who was standing on the street, Bob turned away. 

The officer looked at the two men, in a critical 
way, as if estimating whether they would be fit to 
make into man-o’-war’s men. Then he asked them 
a few questions about their sea experiences; where 
they lived; if they were born in America, and who 
their parents were, whether American or British. 
The men returned favorable answers, evidently, for 
the officer said sharply, “ All right. Go down in¬ 
to the boat.” 

As the men went down, John started to 
follow them, but the officer stopped him quickly. 
“ Where are you going, boy? ” 

“ I’m goin’ with the men. I’m goin’ to be a 
sailor on the Constitution ” said John. 

“ Oh, you are ? How do you know you’re ‘ going 


ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 


39 

to be a sailor on the Constitution / they want men on 
that ship; not children. Do you think you are big 
enough to be a sailor; and who told you you could 
ship on the Constitution? ” 

“ Captain Brock, of the ship Happy Day said he 
guessed I could go on the ship; and those men said 
they wanted powder-monkeys, and I would be a 
good one. Please, sir, can’t I be a sailor on the 
Constitution? ” and John’s voice began to quiver, 
for he thought that he might lose his chance after all, 
and what would become of him if he did not ship; 
he did not know where to find Captain Brock, he 
would be lost in a great city, if he failed now. 

“ How old are you, my lad? ” 

“ Twelve years, sir.” 

“ Where do you live? ” 

“ I don’t live nowhere, sir; I used to live on the 
Byfield Poor Farm, but they didn’t treat me right, 
so I ran away, and I ain’t got no place to go, but 
the Constitution, where those men said they treated 
people right,” and John in his earnestness talked 
fast, for fear that he might be losing time. 

“ So you are all alone, and ran away to go to sea. 
How did you get here to Boston? ” asked the officer, 
beginning to take a deeper interest in the boy. 

“ I came from Salem with Captain Brock, on his 
ship, and I worked, and he paid me this dollar,” and 
John produced the silver coin to prove the truth 
of his statements. 

“ So you earned your passage, and got paid for it. 


4 o A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

That’s doing pretty well for a boy; and you think 
you want to be a sailor in the Navy, on the frigate 
Constitution. You may be killed in battle, how 
about that? ” 

“ I don’t know anything about that, but if other 
people don’t get killed, I may not; anyway, I want 
to go,” replied John. 

“ All right, my boy, I’ll try you. You can go 
down to the frigate, and we’ll see how you take 
hold. If you don’t do well, we shall have to put 
you ashore and leave you,” said the officer smiling. 

“ Oh, I’ll work hard,” said John, “ and you won’t 
have to put me ashore. I want to be a real sailor as 
soon as I’m big enough—” 

“ All right, my lad,” said the officer; “ go in the 
boat, for we are ready to shove off, and when you 
get aboard ship you can grow up as fast as you want 
to.” 

A number of marines were waiting near the boat¬ 
landing, and when the recruits started down to the 
boat, they fell in line at the command of their officer, 
and followed the men. John had been watching 
the marines, who were there as a guard over the 
recruits, for fear that at the last moment some of 
them might reconsider their desire to serve their 
country, and attempt to escape. So the marine 
guard was standing around, with their muskets on 
their shoulders, and a shining bayonet on the muzzle 
of each musket. They looked very formidable, and 
John began to wonder if sometime he might be a 



ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 


41 

marine, and wear a handsome uniform, with a high 
cap and cockade, and clean white cross-belts. He 
was dreaming in this way as he went down to the 
boat. Meanwhile, other recruits came up, and quite 
a number had been gathered by the different squads 
of seamen who had been about the city looking for 
men. There were a number of boys among them, 
some about John’s age, and some older. They all 
had some kind of a bundle or bag, which evidently 
contained their personal belongings, and they clung 
to them as they got into the boats. There were 
two large white boats waiting, and all the sailors 
went to the oars. John heard one remark as the 
recruits climbed into the boat and seated themselves 
on the seats in the middle, between the sailors at the 
oars: “That’s a grummy lot of fresh fish them 
heave-’em-tauts have sent us, but we’ll lick ’em into 
shape by the time we’re off soundings, hey, Bill? ” 

“I reckon we will, Jack,” replied Bill; and 
then the officer in charge of the boat said, “ Silence, 
men,” and no more remarks were made. 

As soon as the boats were filled with the recruits 
and marines, they were pushed away from the 
wharf; the coxswains commanded, “Give way, 
there,” and the sailors at the oars dipped the blades 
all together, and the boats were headed for the 
frigate. 

It was like stepping into a new world for John 
when he entered the boat in company with the men 
and boys who were to be added to the frigate’s 


42 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

crew. He felt like a man, though he had no idea 
what he was to do. He only knew that he was to be 
a sailor on a real ship; a man-o’-war that could fight 
with other ships on the ocean, and perhaps sink 
them. The idea of the ship being sunk herself 
never came into his mind. The sailors never in¬ 
timated that. She was “ a lucky ship,” they said; 
nothing ever happened to her but the best of luck, 
and evidently every sailor who walked her deck 
would as quickly think of jumping overboard as to 
entertain the thought that anything could happen 
disastrously to the frigate Constitution. 

John was sitting next to a boy about his age, and 
the little fellow was beginning to sob, as if he were 
being taken away from friends. “ What’s the mat¬ 
ter? ” asked John. 

“ I’m sorry I ran away from home,” the boy said, 
with a whimper. “ I told my folks I was going to 
run away to sea, and they laughed at me; so I did 
run away, and my father followed me, and found 
where I was; and he said, ‘ All right, my boy, if you 
want to go, you can,’ and he told the officer I could 
ship, so here I am; but now I wish’t that I hadn’t 
done it. I wish’t I was home again, for I don’t 
know what will happen to me.” 

“Never mind,” said John, “I ran away, too. 
Don’t feel bad. They say this is a lucky ship, and 
I guess we’ll have a good time. Anyway, me and 
you’ll be friends, an’ keep together, an’ help each 
other. What’s your name? ” 


ON THE " CONSTITUTION” 


43 

“ Seth Wyman, and I’m ten years old,” answered 
the lad, beginning to feel that he had found a friend. 

“ Then we’re about the same age,” said John, 
“ and perhaps they’ll let us keep together. Any¬ 
way, we’ll be together as much as we can, won’t we.” 

As the boat drew near the frigate, John looked up 
at her high black sides, which curved upward and 
inward, high above his head. He was interested 
to look at the black cannon, which stuck out through 
the portholes in the ship’s side; and he was so taken 
up with interest in what he saw, that he hardly 
noticed that the boat had stopped beside the ship, 
until one of the sailors said. “ Come, you young 
sculpin, shut your big mouth, and tumble up the 
gangway, before some one claps a hook in your 
gills! ” Then John started up, and laughed at the 
sailor, who grinned back at him, and then he 
followed the others up the ladder, over the side 
and down on the deck. He caught sight of Seth, 
and crowded over till he stood with him. 

Everywhere was intense activity on the ship’s 
deck. Men, stripped to the waist, and with trousers 
rolled above their knees, were finishing washing the 
deck, and were rubbing it dry with “ squilgees,” 
great wooden implements like a huge hoe with the 
edge broad and covered with leather. Another 
gang were busily coiling away the ropes on the fife- 
rail on the masts, and making everything tight. 
Others were wiping the cannon with bunches of 
rags, and scouring the brass of the locks as well as 


44 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES " 

cleaning the sights. All the brass-work on the 
ship was receiving a thorough rubbing till it shone 
like gold. The carpenter’s gang was scraping the 
hatch-combings and gratings and ladders, all men, 
outside and below and aloft, were busy as bees 
putting the frigate in perfect order. 

John soon found himself in a line with some half 
a dozen boys of about his own age or perhaps a 
little older. Seth Wyman was one of them; and 
they were told to follow a sailor who led them 
down a steep ladder to the deck below. John was 
almost afraid he would fall, the ladder seemed so 
steep, but the steps were wide and broad enough so 
that by walking a little sideways he got along nicely, 
though one of the boys turned around and backed 
down, while another slipped and slid on his back 
several steps to the deck below where he found 
himself sitting down, and beginning to cry with 
vexation and surprise more than pain. 

“ Oh, shut up, baby,” said one of the other boys, 
“ you’ll never make a sailor if you begin like that.” 

That seemed to be just the right medicine to cure 
the injury, and the youngster got to his feet, rubbing 
himself, but no longer whimpering. The incident 
set John to thinking that whatever happened, he 
would not be caught crying, but would stand all 
that came to him. 

When they were all down the ladder, the sailor 
led them around the companionway and down an¬ 
other ladder, along a dark passage to a room lit only 


ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 


45 

by lanterns, which smoked and smelled of the oil. 
Here each boy was fitted with two blue shirts, two 
pairs of white duck trousers, a blue jacket, and a 
shiny black hat with a band having the word Con¬ 
stitution on it, and ending in two ribbons falling over 
the brim behind. Two big black handkerchiefs, 
some stockings, and a pair of shoes were given each 
boy, and beside these garments, a bag to put them 
into; then the sailor led them into the forward 
part of the ship, on what was called the “ berth 
deck,” and there they were told to take off their 
clothes they were wearing, and all naked they were 
marched up on the spar deck again, and buckets of 
water drawn from over the bow, in which each one 
was to give himself a good scrubbing. If a boy 
seemed to be shirking in this duty, a sailor stood 
ready with a bucket full of water, which he at once 
threw over him, and then a large, rough mop was 
applied not very lightly. One boy, who answered 
to the name of “ Tim,” received this treatment, and 
the mop went up and down him, with no attention 
paid to his squeals. Some of the others got a 
dousing with water, but no mopping. 

This washing-up duty having been performed, 
the little squad of naked boys, now shining, was 
marched down again to the berth deck where they 
had left their clothes, and each one put on his new 
sailor suit. 

John found his clothes an excellent fit, though at 
first the trousers seemed rough and hard, as com- 


46 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

pared to the soft old ragged ones he had taken off, 
but the water still on his body helped to soften the 
seams, and in a few moments he felt quite comfort¬ 
able. The sailor in charge of them showed them 
how to tie the black handkerchief about the neck 
under the shirt collar, and when this was done and 
the hat put on the wet and tousled head, the rough¬ 
looking lads who came on board a little while ago, 
seemed to have vanished completely, so smart-ap¬ 
pearing were the young sailors. 

As soon as all the squad were ready, fully dressed 
and rigged, the sailor in charge marched them 
toward the stern of the frigate, where an officer 
was waiting. 

“ Where did you catch this lot, Thomas? ” asked 
the officer, as the youngsters came stumbling along, 
hitching at their trousers, and pulling their jackets 
into place. They walked in single file, and some 
were treading on the heels of the one ahead, and all 
were very irregular, not having become accustomed 
to their new shoes. 

“ They just arrived from shore, sir,” replied the 
sailor who had charge of the squad. “ They’ve all 
been washed; and have received their clothing 
issue, and are ready to be mustered, sir.” 

The officer looked them over in a critical way. 
To John he seemed very stern and serious, but as 
he looked at him, he caught his eye; the officer 
smiled a little, and John said to himself, “ I guess 
he’s a good man, after all. Anyway, he ain’t so 


ON THE " CONSTITUTION” 


47 

ugly as the master, and I wasn’t afraid of him.” 
Then the officer, having completed his inspection 
of the boys, said, “Uncover, and hold up your right 
hand.” 

At the command, not half the squad knew what to 
do. Some took off the hat, and held it up in the 
right hand, while others held up the hand, but still 
wore the hat. At that, the sailor shouted, “ Take 
off yer hats. Don’t ye know enough to do what 
yer told! ” 

“ That will do, Thomas,” said the officer, 
“ They’re a little puzzled now; it is all so new to 
them. Boys,” he said addressing the now fright¬ 
ened group, “ 1 Uncover ’ means to take off your hat. 
Hold the hat in the left hand, by your side, and 
raise your right hand, like this,” and the officer il¬ 
lustrated, holding his hand as high as his face, his 
arm held out at the side. John followed the move¬ 
ment exactly, and the officer said, “ That’s the way, 
my lad. Boys, do as this boy is doing! ” 

In a little while the officer succeeded in getting 
the awkward squad into something like the right 
position. Then he told them to repeat after him 
the words of the oath of allegiance to the United 
States of America. The boys did very well, and 
when they had repeated the entire oath, the officer 
said, “ Now you are members of the crew of the 
best ship in the world; and young seamen in the 
United States Navy.” 

Following the muster-in, the sailor who was act- 


48 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES 

ing as tutor to the new lads took them to the quarter¬ 
master, who assigned them to places on the berth 
deck, where their hammocks would be hung; gave 
them hammocks and blankets, and their tutor 
showed them how to hang the swinging bed to the 
hooks in the deck-timbers, and then told them to 
get into them. 

Then the fun began. Not a boy could get into 
his hammock. They swung under them as the 
hammocks eluded their efforts. If one managed 
to get halfway in, he fell out immediately. John 
was no better than the rest. He had sprawled 
head-first on the deck, and all hands were making 
bad work of the practice. 

Their tutor laughed heartily at their fruitless 
efforts; and then having tired himself with laughing 
he showed the boys how to take hold of the ham¬ 
mock and draw one’s self up into it. He showed 
them how to arrange the blankets, and make the bed 
so as to be warm and comfortable. Then he set 
them all to climbing in, and this time they did very 
well; only a few failed at the first attempt, and the 
second trial was a success. 

Having mastered the principles of slinging and 
getting into the hammock, the boys were taught how 
to roll and lash it, and when their efforts satisfied 
their instructor, he led them on deck to the ham¬ 
mock-nettings, where their numbers were, and 
showed them how to stow the rolled hammocks. 

By this time the boys were beginning to get tired, 


ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 


49 

but their instructor seemed to show them no mercy. 
He ordered them to fall in, in a column of twos, 
and then marched them about the deck, showing 
them the different places and points the boys must 
learn at once. He told them the difference between 
“ starboard ” and “ larboard, ” where they should 
not go, and where they might go; and he gave them 
a lot of information, which was hard to remember, 
coming so fast and all at once. 

John soon found that he was to be a servant to 
some officer, and that such boys, who were not 
obliged to stand watches, were called “ idlers.” 
Another line of work, which appealed to him as 
being more exciting, was to be a “ powder-boy,” 
when the crew was at quarters; and if in battle, his 
duty would be to carry powder-cartridges which 
were bags of the right size to be a load for a cannon, 
from the powder magazine to the gun-crew to which 
he was assigned. It was evident that John would 
not like to be much of an “ idler.” 

After the boys had been shown about the ship, 
they were taken to the first lieutenant. Meanwhile, 
the sailor who was instructing them kept telling 
them what a noble ship they were on; that she had 
put down the power of the Algerine pirates, and 
could beat any ship afloat, in a sailing race or in a 
broadside fight. The first lieutenant looked the 
boys over very sharply. They were drawn up in 
a line before him, and he went from one to another 
examining their personal appearance very care- 


50 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

fully. He told them they must have their hair 
cut; that they must have their clothes fitted where 
they needed it, by the ship’s tailor; that they must 
keep very clean personally, and be neat in their 
habits. “ How can we do that? ” asked one of 
the boys. “ My boy,” replied the lieutenant, 
“ there is plenty of good, clean water about the ship 
at all times; in fact, she floats in it, and you will 
soon learn how to get it, and how to use it on your¬ 
self and your clothes. You will not need to jump 
overboard every time you have to wash,” and the 
lieutenant’s eyes twinkled as he said this. 

“ Another thing to learn,” he added, “ is, that you 
must always salute an officer when spoken to, or 
when you would speak to him; and always say, 
i sir,’ when speaking. Wilkens,” he said to the 
sailor, “ take these boys to the quartermaster to be 
assigned to messes, but leave this one with me,” and 
he laid his hand on John’s shoulder. 

John remained standing before the lieutenant 
as the other boys were marched away. He had no 
idea what was coming. “ What have I done? I 
wonder,” he said to himself. His experiences of 
life had made him fearful, and if any one spoke to 
him sharply, it suggested a reprimand. To be 
called by an officer the first day on board, before he 
had a chance to do anything, made John dread the 
next moments. He wondered if he had bettered 
himself by shipping on a man-o’-war instead of a 
merchant vessel. 


ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 


5 1 

His mind was set at rest in a moment. “ My 
boy,” said the lieutenant, speaking briskly but not 
unkindly, “ I like your appearance. I need a boy 
to wait on me at table and serve me as I may require. 
I think I will try you. 

“ Why did you ship in the navy, so young—what 
is your name, by the way? ” 

“John Heath, sir,” replied John, remembering 
to say “ sir, ” as the officer had told the boys. 

“ Where is your home ? ” asked the lieutenant. 

John related the story of his life. The lieutenant 
was watching him very carefully, to see if the boy 
were telling the truth; or being a runaway, was 
making-up a story to cover his tracks. He told his 
story in such a straightforward manner that the lieu¬ 
tenant was satisfied. 

“ My boy,” he said, “ I guess you’ll do. You will 
mess with the crew. You will be assigned to a gun¬ 
crew as a powder-boy and drill with them; but the 
first thing in the morning, at six bells, you will re¬ 
port to me in the ward-room, clean and neat, for 
duty. When not at drill, you will be ready to do 
whatever I want done, until eight bells, at night, 
when you can go to your hammock or do anything 
with the crew until all hands are called to the ham¬ 
mocks. 

“Try to learn all you can about the ship, and 
everything on it, and know where to go and what to 
do when I need you. Do not cultivate bad habits, 
and try to be a hard sailor like some. If you want 


52 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

promotion, you must win it by doing right. That’s 
all. You may go.” 

John was not long in getting into the ways re¬ 
quired by the first lieutenant, as his special boy 
servant. He was a little clumsy at first when 
waiting on the table, but he watched one of the 
older boys, and tried to do as he did. He was not 
long in learning, which pleased the lieutenant. 

After the officers had left the table, John cleared 
away and washed the dishes and put them in the 
proper lockers. There was enough unserved food 
for a good meal, so he was never hungry, and he had 
better-cooked food than the men in their messes. 

John’s time was well-filled. He was obliged to 
be out of his hammock; stow it, and make himself 
neat and clean, every morning, before he went to 
the ward-room for table service. He was not 
obliged to do deck work; he did not have to stand 
a watch, and it was only occasionally that he was 
obliged to go aloft to help handle the canvas. In 
this case, he was sent to the smaller sails. 

The first time John was sent aloft he always re¬ 
membered. It seemed a very dangerous under¬ 
taking. A quartermaster sent him up to the main¬ 
top to carry something needed there by the men, and 
John started up the ratlines feeling there was very 
little between him and the deck and not much more 
between him and the water. The ratlines seemed 
very small for his feet, and it looked a long distance 


ON THE “CONSTITUTION” 


S3 

to the top, and when at last he arrived under the 
great platform which reached out over his head, 
he wondered how he was to get on it. 

The sailors in the top called to him, “ Come on, 
1 Johnnie-jump-it,’ come right up here; there’s 
plenty of room here.” 

“ How do I get up there? ” asked John. 

“ Right through the lubber’s-hole, if you want 
to; but by the 1 flap-whack railway,’ if you are a real 
sailor.” By the “ flap-whack railway ” the sailors 
meant the futtock shrouds, which were fastened to 
the mast under the shrouds, and extended to the 
edge of the maintop. Any one climbing them must 
be almost like a fly on the ceiling, as the shrouds 
are over him, and it is a feat of strength and skill to 
climb in that inverted position. 

The alternative was through a large hole in the 
platform of the top above the main shrouds, through 
which one could easily pass. But the sailors de¬ 
lighted in the feat of skill required to climb the 
futtock shrouds. 

John wanted to be a real sailor. That was the 
ambition with which he had undertaken to be a 
man-o’-war’s-man, and here was a test for him. 
Trying with all his might and strength, he began to 
climb with his back below him, trying to keep his 

feet on the ratlines of these short-shrouds. He 

/ 

made it step by step, and succeeded in getting over 
the edge of the top, crawling on his stomach until 
he was safely in. He had done it like a real sailor. 


CHAPTER IV 


AT ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 

It was after the dog watch that the boys asked 
some of the crew to tell them how the Constitution 
won in the race away from the British warships, 
just before she came into Boston. They had heard a 
good many references to the incident in the few days 
they had been on board ship, for the event was so 
fresh in the minds of the crew, that the sailors were 
able to give a very accurate account of the affair. 

The youngsters gathered around, and listened 
intently. On this occasion, the men were taking 
things easily, sitting on coils of rope and in little 
groups on the spar deck. Some were smoking 
and others resting or amusing themselves in various 
ways peculiar to sailors. The frigate was riding 
steadily on an even sea, and the hour on deck was 
very pleasant and inviting. 

“ Well, boys,” said Hosea Dobbs, who had been 
prevailed upon to spin the yarn, “ since ye want 
to know about one of the greatest naval races the 
world has ever known, there is no one better able 
to tell of it than myself, who played an important 
part in it—” 


54 


ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 55 

“ ‘ Important part’, humph!” interrupted an¬ 
other of the group, “ What did you do, but pull an 
oar in the first cutter? I was the ‘ important ’ one; 
for didn’t I rig them umbrellas before we got on 
soundin’s where we could kedge; and didn’t I train 
an’ fire the gun in the cabin at the Britisher which 
was creepin’ up on us? ‘ Important part ’ indeed! 
Howsomever, go ahead with your yarn, and when ye 
get off’n your course I’ll take the wheel.” Then he 
lit his pipe, and kept still, for the first narrator to 
continue. 

“ Heave ahead, Hosy,” said another of the group, 
“ we’re waitin’ for you to make sail. Never mind 
how the wind blows.” And without waiting for 
any one else to interrupt. Hosea began again in his 
customary style: 

“ It was on the twelfth of last month that we put 
out from Annapolis, where we had been laid up 
ever since we got back from England, and Holland, 
where we had went with a lot of kegs of money to 
pay the Dutchmen for the help they gave us in the 
Revolutionary War. We had had something of a 
time gettin’ back, and had come mighty near havin’ 
a war of our own with the Britishers, as we lay in 
Portsmouth harbor; but Old Ike was too clever for 
’em, and got away without a scratch, although it 
looked for a while as if we was elected for a fight, 
for we sailed out with a heavy frigate alongside. 
We was standin’ to quarters, with guns loaded an’ 
matches burnin’.” 


56 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

“ Why don’t ye tell ’em about that row, Hosy? ” 
asked one of the group. 

“ Because I started to tell ’em all about another 
matter; about how the old girl won a smart race. 
If ye want to tell that story, go ahead; I’ll quit.” 

“ No, heave ahead. I’ll tell that story another 
time.” 

“ Well, as I was sayin’, when that sculpin inter¬ 
rupted me, we had been at Annapolis long enough 
to have the ship’s bottom cleaned and new coppered, 
and otherwise put to rights. We shipped a new 
crew. There was four hundred and fifty of us, all 
told; and a lot of that four hundred and fifty was 
greenhorns. But greenhorns don’t stay green long 
when Old Ike and Mr. Morris is on board. 

“ It was while we was at Annapolis that we heard 
that war had been declared against England. I re¬ 
member when Old Ike got the news how he began 
to jump us all. We couldn’t get the ship to rights 
fast enough to suit him. We had plenty of ammu¬ 
nition on board, but we had to take on water and 
stores, food enough for a voyage. 

“ I overheard Old Ike and Mr. Morris talkin’ 
about it; and the captain says, ‘ Mr. Morris, I want 
to get out of here as soon as I can. I have learned 
that the President and his Cabinet have been talkin’ 
about layin’ up the Navy in ordinary, to keep the 
Britishers from gettin’ ’em. Now, what are war¬ 
ships for if not to fight? I’m goin’ to fight if I 
can find a British ship that wants to meet us; and so 


ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 57 

I want to get on the seas before the Government 
tries to stop me.’ ” 

“ So, just as soon as we was fitted with everything, 
it was ‘ cast-off, an’ make sail.’ We was glad 
enough to do so. So on July twelve we cut loose 
and ran down the river, an’ got outside as soon as 
we could. We was somewhere off Great Bay, on 
Friday, July seventeen—there’s luck for ye—about 
four bells in the afternoon, of a Friday, just the way 
to get into trouble, when the masthead watch re¬ 
ported four vessels, dead ahead to the nor’ward, 
which looked like warships. 

“ The wind was no’the-east, and we was workin’ 
up against it, takin’ things easy. The Old Man 
thought we was gettin’ too close in shore, for if them 
sail was Britishers they might pinch us against the 
shore; so we went about, on the starboard tack, and 
steered due east. I remember that well, ’cause I 
was at the wheel at the time. 

“ In about two hours another sail come up to 
northard, but she didn’t get any nearer. She didn’t 
look like any of our ships, but we held on about as 
we was till about three bells, just after we’d been 
to supper, when the wind shifted to the sou’east, 
and that gave us the weather gauge. 

“Then the Old Man headed us for the single 
stranger, and in about an hour we was almost within 
gunshot. Then Old Ike cleared the ship for 
action, and called us to quarters. 

“ For two hours we kept on, edgin’ down on the 


58 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

stranger, waitin’ by our guns, but when she wouldn’t 
answer our signals for some time, an’ the four other 
ships was holdin’ on astern, we didn’t attempt to 
engage. 

“ So we kept on till a little before dawn the next 
mornin’, when the stranger fired two guns; sent up 
a rocket, and showed her tail goin’ north, runnin’ 
before the wind; and by sunrise she was two miles 
away. But the four ships was hangin’ on to us, 
an’ tryin’ to run us down; so the Old Man thought 
it best to look out for himself; and as it was gettin’ 
lighter, he saw they was Britishers. 

“ Now the Constitution is a match for any single 
Britisher of her class afloat, and has proved it in 
a race in the West Indies, but it ain’t fair to fight 
one ship with four against her. So the Old Man 
put about, an’ we headed south to try an’ run around 
’em. Then, I’ll be sunk, if that lone ship hadn’t 
found out what the game was, and had turned to 
join the race; and then, blessed if the wind didn’t 
fail us! ” 

“ What did you do, then, Hosy? ” asked one of 
the boys who had been listening very intently, and 
had become excited at the story. 

“ ‘ What did we do then ’ why, the captain called 
all hands on deck and set us to whistlin’ to raise a 
wind; what’d ye s’pose we did? ” was the laughing 
answer of the sailor, and the boy grew red in the 
face, for in the laughter that followed this state¬ 
ment, he saw he was being fooled. 


ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 59 

“ When the Old Man saw we wa’n’t goin’ to get 
no wind, we hoisted out the first cutter, and other 
boats, and takin’ a hawser out, tried to tow the old 
girl, and we did it! We got her goin’ along at a 
pretty good clip, faster, anyway, than standin’ still 
with only headway. 

“ While we was out towin’, the watch on deck 
hove up a twenty-four-pounder from the gun-deck, 
and pointed it over the taffrail astern; and they 
moved an eighteen-pounder aft from the forecastle, 
and pointed it toward the Britishers. Two guns 
was run out the cabin windows, and then the old girl 
was ready for ’em, if needs be. Then they set all 
the kites they could; to’gallant stunsails and stay¬ 
sails, too. 

“ We was doin’ pretty well, haulin’ the old beauty 
ahead, but to help more, they stripped the ham¬ 
mocks out of the nettin’s, and tied the nettin’s down. 
Then they made everybody walk edgewise, so’s not 
to catch any wind; and if any one spit, he had to 
spit to leeward. Oh, I tell you, we was doin’ every¬ 
thing we could to push the old girl ahead. 

“ It wa’n’t long afore the Britishers caught our 
towin’ trick, and the other ships sent their boats to 
the one that was most ahead. They furled all the 
sails on that one, an’ let the boats’ crews do the 
clawin’. 

“ Then it begun to look as if we was a goner for 
sure; but a little breeze come along, an’ set us ahead 
a few hundred fathoms. Our sails was hanging so 


6 o A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES" 


they caught the wind, but the Britisher had to set 
his, which delayed him some; and even then, he 
didn’t get ahead any that way, for the wind dropped, 
an’ the boats had to work the harder; and my eye, 
but didn’t they claw! 

“ The Britisher kept gainin’ on us, and got near 
enough to begin to fire at us. Some of his shot 
went over us and splashed in the water between the 
frigate an’ the boats. 

“Just about that time, the leadsman, who had 
been feelin’ for bottom right along, reported 
twenty-six fathom, so Lieutenant Morris thought 
we might try kedgin’ the ship along. It seems, once 
when he was servin’ on the President they done that 
to get into a harbor when the wind dropped. 

“ The Old Man was always willin’ to try any¬ 
thing that looked good, so we got out all the spare 
cables and heavy rope we could, and made a cable 
almost a mile long. We bent a kedge anchor to 
this, and a boat rowed ahead with it as fast as it 
could, till the line was taut, and then they dropped 
the kedge. 

“ Then the crew aboard picked up the cable and 
walked aft with it, stampin’ an’ whoopin’, and 
singin’ chanteys; an’ pretty soon we could feel we 
was gainin’ on the boats. That give the boats’ crews 
a chance to ketch their breaths, but not for long, 
for as many of us as could, rigged up another tow- 
line an’ anchor, and sent it ahead by another boat, 
ahead of the one that was kedgin’ first. So, as soon 


ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 61 

as we’d warped up to the first anchor, we took hold 
of the second. Then the first anchor was sent ahead 
to be ready. 

“ We was walkin’ away so nicely it seemed too 
good to last long, for at first the Britishers did not see 
our game; but pretty soon the masthead lookout 
saw what we was up to, and then they went to doin’ 
the same thing, and as they had plenty of boats 
they soon was overhaulin’ us again. 

“Just then, about two bells, a breeze caught in 
our sails, an’ we filled away with it. The Old Man 
caught up the boats as we overhauled ’em, and 
swung ’em on the davits with the crews in ’em, ready 
to drop ’em again if we had to go to towin’. For 
about an hour the breeze held, and we began to 
get out of the Britishers’ reach, so one of ’em fired 
a broadside at us, but they only peppered the waves, 
’way short of us. 

“ Then the wind lulled again, and the boats went 
out again towin’ an’ kedgin’. The Britishers kept 
their boats bunched with the leadin’ ship, which 
kept walkin’ right along. That interested the Old 
Man, so he started our water, and let out a lot of it. 

“ That eased the frigate considerable, so we were 
able to keep about so far ahead of the leading Brit¬ 
isher, and in the afternoon she got anxious, an’ begun 
firin’ at us. We’d rigged two guns out of the stern 
windows of the cabin, so we fired back at her, but the 
shot fell short both ways. We even didn’t hit their 
boats. So we still kept up the clawin’ an’ kedgin’. 


62 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


“ As it got dark, the Old Man put out some more 
boats to towin’ with fresh crews, but about six bells 
at night the wind served again; the boats was picked 
up, and the officers an’ men rested right where they 
was, and got some sleep, as they was mighty tired. 
Everybody was on deck tryin’ to sleep anywhere. 
I know I lay alongside a gun, and rested my head 
on Sam Hadlock, an’ he was awful hard, Sam said 
he’d toughened himself settin’ on a boat-seat, 
rowin’ and towin’. ’Most everybody slept some, 
and even after midnight when the wind freshened 
and then failed, the crew rested; and the Britishers 
must have been doin’ the same. 

“ About four bells in the mornin’ we went to 
towin’ an’ kedgin’ again till daylight. By that 
time the leadin’ British ship had about overhauled 
us, and was off our lee beam. She stood about to 
come at us, so the Old Man tacked, too; but it 
brought us right in range of another Britisher. 
We was at quarters, all ready to fight, but I’ll be 
blessed, if that Britisher never said a word, and 
we got by! 

“ So we kept at it, off an’ on that day. That was 
the nineteenth, an’ we managed to gain a little, 
an’ was about four miles ahead of the leader. Just 
about our supper time, while we had the weather 
gauge, a squall of wind with a heavy shower was 
cornin’ up at us. The Old Man tried one of his 
‘Yankee tricks’ on the Britishers. He sent the 
watch aloft into the tops. We was bowlin’ along 


ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 63 

then fairly well; but just as the shower struck us, 
they laid out and made everything snug. The kites 
was took in; a double reef was put on the mizzen 
topsail, and it looked as if we expected a blow or a 
hurricane. 

“ The Britishers bein’ to leeward saw us clampin’ 
things down, so they went at it, too. They short¬ 
ened sail close down, and bore up with the wind so 
as not to get caught, and soon were tight and ready 
for a hard storm. They was headed away from the 
course they had been sailin’, an’ was opposite to 
ours, an’ more so, ’cause we had headed into the 
wind. Then, just as soon as the rain struck us—and 
it was only a shower—it hid us from the British. 

“ That was just what Old Ike was lookin’ for. 
He jumped us out on the yards, to make all sail 
possible; and in less than no time we was bowlin’ 
along, doin’ eleven knots, easy; and away from the 
Britishers. 

“ We held to our new course, and that trick of 
Old Ike’s helped us away so much, that though the 
Britishers tried to get on our course durin’ the 
night, by next mornin’ we was so far apart there 
wa’n’t no use in their tryin’ to catch up with us 
again. So we was mighty happy when we saw ’em 
stand away toward the no’the-east, as if they was 
lookin’ for something easier to ketch. 

“ I tell you, that was some sailin’. The Old 
Man handled the frigate just as easy as one of them 
Glo’ster fisherman sails his little boat-” 





64 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

“ I’ve heard tell how,” interrupted one of the 
group, “ when he was a lieutenant, on a ship in the 
West Indies, he handled her in a race with a Brit¬ 
ish ship, and beat her so at the end of the race she 
was hull down to leeward.” 

Dobbs paid no attention to this interruption, but 
continued his narrative: “ We was three nights and 
the better part of two days gettin’ away from them 
Britishers-” 

“ Sixty-six hours and thirty minutes, to be exact,” 
interrupted another of the group. 

“ Well, by thunder, old mathematics,” said 
Dobbs, “ where’d you get your calculations? Was 
you captain’s clerk, keepin’ the log, whilst we sailors 
was mannin’ the ship, and rowin’ the boats so as 
to save your precious carcass from goin’ to England ? 
Perhaps you know just how many times I lugged 
that hawser astern, or tramped around the capstan 
warpin’ the old gal up to the kedge. And may be 
you know how many miles we rowed ahead, carryin’ 
the anchors. I’m grateful to you for your arith¬ 
metic. Any more figgers of interest? ” 

“ You be blowed, you big wind-bag!” replied 
his critic. “ I know what I’m sayin’. I heard the 
first leftenant tellin’ another officer about it. But 
I’ll have you to understand, I, too, was trampin’ 
around the capstan; and I ain’t caught up my sleep 
yet! ” 

“Very well, sir,” replied Dobbs. “You’ve 
wiped off the slate, and I’ll let you go; but I dislike 



ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 65 

to hear my figures rearranged. As I was sayin’, 
we didn’t have hammocks piped, nor nothin’. We 
slept just where we dropped; and the quartermaster 
and middies would come around, and kick us awake 
to man a boat or heave a rope. But never mind; 
when we sailed from the Chesapeake five days be¬ 
fore, we had the dod-rabbitedest crew that over 
stood on a ship’s deck. Some of ’em never had been 
on a man-o’-war before, and I misdoubt but some 
of ’em never even had been on a vessel of any kind. 
They was all eyes and all mouth till I wanted to 
heave a bucket of slush into ’em, to set ’em about 
their business. I never seen such greenies before. 
They didn’t know their thumb-hand-side from their 
stern; an’ as fer knowin’ ropes, some of ’em ought 
to have been showed only one rope, and that the 
hangman’s. However, as I was sayin’, by the time 
them Britishers stood about and left us, them green¬ 
ies knew more ship, and more Navy than if they’d 
been on a cruise to Gibraltar. They was obeyin’ 
very smartly the officers and us real sailors-” 

“ When did you ever become a 1 real sailor 
remarked one of the group, “ I remember when you 
shipped, and you were as green a landlubber as ever 
chewed pork.” 

“ Shut up! I don’t like so much interruptions! 
I’m addressin’ a gentlemanly and intelligent addi¬ 
tion to the crew of the frigate Constitution, which 
you never was; and, I was sayin’, we made sailors 
and man-o’-war’s-men out of that bunch of greenies, 



66 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


in them sixty-six and one-half hours; and they’s a 
credit to Old Ike to-day.” 

“Good, Hosea! You’re a patriot, no mistake. 
One of these days if you keep out’n the brig long 
enough, you may be promoted to first dustpan in 
the wardroom! Ye’r’ all right, Hosea! ” was the 
parting shot of one of his audience, and Dobbs sat 
back, unable to find words to meet this sally. 

“ That’s how we happens to be here,” said an¬ 
other of the group, taking up the narrative, “ We 
headed back to Boston to get more water, ’cause 
we’d lightened the ship of a lot of water, in outsail¬ 
ing the Britishers, and we had to have a full supply 
if we expected to do any cruisin’. We’ve everything 
else we started with; spars, boats, guns, shot; and 
the ‘ old girl ’ is all ready to fight; and heigh-ho, for 
a rowdy-dowdy cruise after the John Bulls! The 
Constitution'll ketch ’em, and we’ll sink ’em! Boys, 
ye’ve j’ined the right ship at jest the right time. 
Mark my words: if you don’t see some nice fightin’ 
before you see Boston again, my name’s not ‘ Sam 
Hadlock’!” and the enthusiastic orator left the 
group to find some other place of interest. 

It was now time to go below and turn in, so the 
boys left the entertaining group and went to their 
hammocks. 

They soon were asleep; a slumber which would 
not be disturbed until the next watch was called, 
when some were obliged to turn out for duty on 


ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR 67 

deck. Those who waked at the boatswain’s whistle 
found it easy enough to roll over and out. Some 
were so weary, that they failed to wake readily, and 
a quartermaster came and awakened them with 
more vigor than ceremony. 


CHAPTER V 


OUT OF BOSTON, CRUISING EASTWARD 

DAYS passed quickly. John was learning 
rapidly, and was gaining a good name among the 
men. Even the officers saw him, and commented 
on his increasing ability. 

“ Smart lad, that,” said one of the lieutenants 
as he watched John attending to his duties in the 
wardroom. “ He is a perfect servant and waiter, 
and he seems to be able to keep Lieutenant Morris’ 
kit in proper shape. I wish I could steal him for 
myself.” 

“ If it could have been done, I’d have done it 
already,” replied the other officer. “ I’d like him, 
too; but Lieutenant Morris has tight hold of him, 
and won’t give him any chance to get away, or any 
one else to get him.” 

Such a reputation was helping John along, and 
as the officers good-naturedly tried to coax him to 
leave the lieutenant and serve them, he became 
on pleasant terms with them, but he never attempted 
to be other than respectful at all times. 

On the evening of August first, it was evident 
that preparations were being made for immediate 

68 


OUT OF BOSTON 69 

sailing. Every day the crew had been kept busy 
taking on supplies: water, provisions, ammunition, 
and more muskets and cutlasses until the ship was 
well prepared for a long voyage. John overheard 
two lieutenants talking, and they spoke freely of 
the probability of sailing soon. 

“ The Captain says he has no orders, yet, though 
he reported his arrival here promptly; nor does he 
seem to be anxious to get orders. He seems to have 
an idea that the Administration, thinking our Navy 
is too small to meet England’s on the seas, will want 
to tie up in port every warship, and fight the thing 
out on the land. Captain Hull is not afraid of God, 
man, or the devil; and I reckon he wants to get 
away if possible, before any orders come. Captain 
Hull evidently works best when he is his own mas¬ 
ter. I expect to see him make sail any moment 
now, and I think he wants to try to hit one of those 
British ships that chased us; so he will go out before 
they get too far away.” 

“ That seems reasonable,” replied the other of¬ 
ficer, “ and we have been told not to leave any busi¬ 
ness ashore unfinished at sundown any day. I’m 
all ready any time.” 

“ So am I; fit for fun, fight, or a frolic.” 

“ We may get ’em all, quicker than we know.” 

“ Can’t come any too quick for me. I feel certain 
that this ship can give a good account of herself, 
in any fair fight, in spite of the fact that we have 
so many comparatively new and green men aboard. 


70 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

I am willing to meet a fight, and will try to play the 
man.” 

“ Captain Hull has been working this crew pretty 
regularly at almost every duty. That run from the 
British ships was a splendid lesson for a new crew; 
and didn’t they take hold and work! Since we have 
been in port we’ve had general quarters twice a day, 
and some times without much warning; so the crew 
have learned how to handle the guns, and with ex¬ 
perienced men as gun-captains, the crews will do 
well.” 

The conversation ended here. The officers 
walked apart, and John felt his heart beat lighter 
at the thought that he soon might be sailing the 
ocean. The ship was now his home. He was done 
with life ashore, and whether the sea brought him 
life or death, it was all he could expect. 

The desired experience came sooner than he 
thought it would. On August second, the sails had 
been shaken out in the morning and left hanging in 
the buntlines, as if to dry in the sun; and about eight 
bells Captain Hull arrived in his gig. Two or 
three cutters loaded with supplies, sailors, and late 
recruits, had already unloaded their freight, and 
had been hauled to the davits. The boat-boom had 
been swung inboard and lashed, and only the com¬ 
panion ladder was left. 

As soon as Captain Hull came aboard, he went 
directly to his cabin followed by the officer of the 
deck, to whom he signalled without speaking. The 


OUT OF BOSTON 


7i 

gig was raised to the davits, and the companion 
ladder unshipped and taken aboard. 

“ Looks like we was done with this cove,” re¬ 
marked one of the seamen. 

“ Yes, there’s nothing holding us to Boston but 
the ‘ hook,’ and that will come up easy,” replied 
another. 

In a few minutes the officer of the deck appeared 
from the companionway, and the boatswain’s call 
was heard throughout the ship, passed along by 
others: “All hands make sail, ahoy!” Immedi¬ 
ately the crew were in the shrouds, running up to 
the tops, waiting the order, “ Lay out on the yards, 
all hands! ” followed by, “ Ease of! buntlines; clew 
down all! ” This order brought all the sails into 
position, even the royals, and the frigate began to 
feel the push of the wind, and was tugging at her 
anchor, as a restive horse mouths the bit, waiting 
to be let go. 

“Lay down from aloft!” came the command, 
and the crew returned to the deck. “ All hands up 
anchor, ahoy!” and it was a happy crew that 
seized the cable and walked aft. 

As the anchor came aboard, the sails were begin¬ 
ning to draw, filled with the west wind, which was 
coming just right to send the frigate out of the 
harbor. She gathered way slowly. In a few mo¬ 
ments her speed increased, and she was threading 
her way among the islands of the harbor. 

The frigate was slipping past Fort Warren, 


72 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES " 

which dipped its flag to the beautiful ship, so poten¬ 
tial for war on the ocean, as the fort was for war 
on the coast. A fishing schooner, bound in, slid 
along close to the frigate, so near that the two crews 
could see each other’s faces; the crew of the schooner 
pounding the bulwarks and cheering the warship 
which towered above them. 

“ We ain’t seen a thing! ” the skipper shouted, 
making a trumpet of his two hands. The officers 
at the quarter-deck taffrail waved their hands in 
reply, and the two vessels soon were far apart. In 
a few minutes the frigate began to feel the swell 
of the ocean, and with each lift, the sails seemed to 
take in more wind and increase the ship’s speed. 

Soon a gentle roll, as the frigate met the ground 
swell, caused several of the crew to seem to have 
lost their enthusiasm, and some began to move un¬ 
steadily toward a porthole, as if anxious to see the 
way the waves ran past the ship. Evidently the 
sight was not so interesting as they expected, for soon 
they were finding places in out-of-the-way corners 
to lie down. 

Sympathetic friends of more experience afloat 
were advising them to go to the cook, and get a slice 
of fat salt pork and chew it steadily; but at that 
particular moment the seasick men had no desire 
to change positions, even for so sovereign a cure, 
which the sailors earnestly assured would result 
from a liberal dose of salt-pork and molasses. The 
seasick men and boys were pitiful objects as they 


OUT OF BOSTON 


73 

lay and sat about the decks. Fortunately it was not 
necessary at that time to call them for duty, and 
their immune comrades went about their work, do¬ 
ing the extra amount out of friendly compassion 
for the “ land-lubbers,” as they affectionately called 
them, whenever they found cause to speak of them, 
and they found such opportunities remarkably 
frequently. The officers of the watch on deck paid 
no attention to the sick sailors, knowing that they 
were unable to help themselves, until the attack 
passed, which would be soon. 

As this was John’s first experience on “blue” 
water, he too, began to feel squeamish. He did not 
quite understand the reason for it, for he had felt 
perfectly well coming down the harbor, and for 
some distance outside. Presently he felt the distem¬ 
per coming on him severely; he wondered what 
he had eaten that had made him sick. He knew 
something was wrong in his stomach, and instinc¬ 
tively he ran to a gun-port and paid his first debt to 
Neptune. Then he felt better, and after having 
paid several more instalments on the debt, he began 
to feel that perhaps the account was settled. 

John’s pride began to come back and he felt 
ashamed of himself to be so childish, as he con¬ 
sidered it; but when he saw his comrades in their 
misery, he congratulated himself that he had not 
been so badly off. 

“Hey, boy!” called the quartermaster, “have 
you got your sea-legs on so quick? If so, bear a 


74 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

hand here, and get things to rights.” John obeyed, 
promptly enough, and found it not impossible to do 
his part. 

Holding a course generally northeast, across the 
Gulf of Maine, as the area of ocean is called, be¬ 
tween Cape Cod, Mass., and Cape Sable, Nova 
Scotia, the shore-side of which is the coast of the 
district of Maine, the Constitution was headed for 
the Bay of Fundy, in the vicinity of which Captain 
Hull thought he might find some British vessels 
hunting for Yankee merchant ships, or privateers, 
which were scouring that section of the ocean. 

The crew of the frigate was in need of discipline 
and drill in sea service. The run up the coast from 
the Chesapeake and the race away from the British 
squadron, just before she made Boston, had been 
most valuable in seamanship instruction; but there 
was plenty more to be learned. So, taking advan¬ 
tage of the westerly summer winds, Captain Hull 
put the crew through vigorous training in making 
and taking-in all sorts of combinations of sails. He 
hauled up the courses; set topsails and topgallants; 
furled royals. Then he set royals, clewed down 
the courses, and put out studding-sails, until the 
frigate was a cloud of canvas, and was making good 
headway. It was a beautiful, clear summer day, 
and the good ship with a cloud of gleaming white 
canvas made her an object which might be seen 
from many miles away, by any keen-eyed lookout. 
But evidently the Constitution was quite alone, as 


OUT OF BOSTON 


75 

no sail came up over the edge of the horizon, to 
speak or challenge her. 

Not only was the crew being exercised aloft dur¬ 
ing this run, but also they were given frequent 
gun-drills. A large number of the crew had never 
before been on a warship, and it was necessary to get 
the gun-crews into working order, and to working 
together, so that when the time came, they would 
be able to give good account of themselves. The 
gun-captains were the older and more experienced 
seamen, many of them having served on the Con¬ 
stitution before, some even before Tripoli, under 
Captain Preble, so that they were well qualified for 
the position. Others had been in the crew during 
the tour to Holland, the previous year, and they 
knew what to do with cannon; but so many men 
had been shipped only a few weeks before, that it 
was necessary to teach them their parts in loading 
and firing. 

While in the Chesapeake, the crew had some 
practice shooting at floating barrels, which were set 
out at a distance of two hundred yards, and used as 
targets. Now, a barrel afloat is a very loose sort 
of a thing to shoot a 24-pounder at, but the crews 
did remarkably well for greenhorns. When off 
duty they discussed cannon practice, and the theory 
of fire, according to their understandings, and 
among them shared considerable information of a 
practical sort. As they gathered around a gun on 
the main deck, a gun-captain told all he knew of the 


i 


76 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES " 

parts and working of the gun; and occasionally, an 
officer, seeing how interested the newer men were 
to learn, stopped and gave the group the benefit of 
his more perfect instruction, and they were sur¬ 
prised to learn that there was so much to know about 
a cannon and its various parts and equipment, when 
it looked to them so simple and the handling even 
more so. 

John was acquiring constantly some new informa¬ 
tion concerning the frigate and what was on board, 
or how she was managed. Among other things, 
he learned the names of the different parts of a 
cannon. 

A ship’s cannon, a long 24-pounder in this in¬ 
stance, is divided into four principal sections. The 
rounded end of the breech is its “ base,” and this 
part supports the “ cascabel,” the name of the part 
around which the breeching is turned, in order to 
hold the gun when it recoils after firing. This 
“ cascabel ” consists of the “ knob,” “ neck,” and 
“ fillet.” The base is separated by the “ base-ring ” 
from the “ first reinforce,” including the first part 
of the breech, for about one-half the distance to the 
“ trunnions.” These are the two solid cylinders 
at right angles to the sides of the cannon axles, 
on which the cannon is elevated or depressed, in 
order to bring the muzzle to bear on the enemy. 
Each “ trunnion ” is connected with the barrel of 
the cannon, by the “ rimbrace,” a shallow shoulder, 
which prevents the cannon from binding against 


OUT OF BOSTON 


77 

the carriage, on which it is mounted. The “ sec¬ 
ond reinforce ” is a continuation of the “ first rein¬ 
force,” and extends to just forward of the trunnions. 
From there, the remainder of the barrel of the 
cannon is the “ chase,” with the exception of the 
more elaborate curved outline, which is called the 
“ muzzle,” the curve beginning at the “ astragal ” 
or “ neck-fillet,” and completing the muzzle. 

In the upper side of the “ first reinforce,” next to 
the “ base-ring ” is the “ pan,” surrounding the 
“ touchhole,” constructed to hold the priming 
powder to the “ vent,” which is filled with priming, 
connecting with the powder of the cartridges in the 
bore of the cannon. When the gun-captain applies 
the light of the match to the priming, the fire is 
communicated through the vent, into the powder- 
chamber of the bore, to the cartridge, and discharges 
the cannon. When loading the cannon, the first- 
captain inserts a quill filled with fine priming pow¬ 
der into the vent, as soon as the number-4 man 
has found by inserting his priming iron that the 
cartridge is in place. The priming iron punctures 
the heavy paper of the cartridge, and the priming 
quill completes the connection with the touchhole 
and the pan. As soon as the cannon shot is rammed 
down, the gun is ready to be fired. 

When the crew were called to “ general quar¬ 
ters,” every man had his station at the guns, or other 
necessary position on the ship. Each cannon on a 
side was handled by a crew of twelve men, who 


78 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

also went to the other side of the ship when that 
battery was engaged. 

The great 24-pounders were on wooden carriages, 
with huge wooden trucks, which kept them steadier 
than if they had been of iron. The end of the car¬ 
riage toward the breech of the gun was made with 
four steps on each side, so that the handspike-men 
could lift the cannon at the breech to permit the 
quoin and block being changed to obtain the proper 
elevation of the muzzle. As the quoin on the block 
was drawn out, the breech was lowered, and the 
muzzle raised. In that way the cannon was aimed 
for elevation. 

A heavy hawser was fastened to the ship’s side on 
each side of the porthole, and through a ring on, or 
by a turn around the cascabel, as the iron knob on 
the breech of the cannon was called. This was the 
“ breeching,” and was just long enough to catch 
and hold the cannon as it recoiled from its dis¬ 
charge, and jumped back and upward. On each 
side of the carriage, fastened to ringbolts near the 
breech, were “ side-tackles,” which also were fas¬ 
tened to hooks in the ship’s side, on each side of the 
porthole, inside the breeching. The train-and- 
tackle men by hauling in the rope of these tackles 
drew the cannon up to the porthole, and trained it to 
one side or the other, according as they hauled the 
tackle. This tackle, having double blocks, ran out 
easily as the cannon returned into the breeching, in 
its recoil. 


OUT OF BOSTON 79 

In order to load the cannon it was necessary for 
the train-and-tackle men to haul on the rope in the 
“ train-tackle,” which was fastened to the breech 
of the gun carriage, and to a ringbolt in the deck in 
the rear of the cannon. This tackle ran out as the 
side-tackles were drawn up. 

When preparing for action, rings of large rope 
were laid on the deck near the cannon and cannon¬ 
balls piled in them; the rope kept the balls from 
rolling about the deck. Wads were piled near 
the muzzle of the piece, and tubs of water were set 
convenient for emergency; fresh water for the men 
to drink, and salt water for putting out any blaze 
that might be started from the enemy’s fire. The 
hatch-combings were filled with more cannon¬ 
balls, and powder charges in heavy paper bags were 
piled ready for loading the cannon. Two powder- 
boys were at hand to run with their powder-cases 
to the magazine, and to bring up more cartridges, 
keeping the supply of powder up to the firing needs, 
without having too much on deck, in danger of being 
set on fire. The deck was sprinkled with sand to 
keep the men from slipping, especially if the deck 
should become covered with the blood of the killed 
and wounded. All the material was ready for im¬ 
mediate use, and the men were prepared with 
necessary implements for loading and working the 
cannon. 

When the gun-crews were called to quarters, 
every man went to his station. The first captain, 


8o A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


who commanded the gun and fired the cannon, took 
his position directly in the rear of the cannon. He 
had in his belt a leather case of quills filled with fine 
powder, which he would insert in the vent as a 
primer, when the cannon was loaded and ready to 
be fired. He took off the leather apron which was 
kept fastened over the pan to keep the touchhole 
clear and dry. He put in its position the flint-lock 
gun-lock, and attached the lanyard. In his belt 
he had the slender priming-iron, with which he 
cleared the vent, and pierced the paper wrapper of 
the powder-case. 

At the command “ Load number-2 man, the 
second captain, at the right of the cannon stood 
ready to see everything clear. Number 4, the 
sponger, stepped inside the breeching, and pushed 
the sponge into the bore of the cannon, turning it 
and clearing the bore of any moisture or dirt which 
might have got into it; then he withdrew the sponge. 
Number 3, on the opposite side, stepped inside the 
breeching, and pushed the powder and cartridge 
into the bore the length of his arm. He followed 
it with a wad; and then, receiving a cannon-ball 
from number 5, the assistant loader, inserted that, 
and any other ammunition ordered. He then, with 
number 4, who had inserted the rammer, pushed 
the whole charge clear to the breech of the cannon; 
drove the rammer in twice, seating the ball into the 
wad, but leaving the rammer in the bore until he 


OUT OF BOSTON 81 

ascertained by his priming-wire through the vent, 
that the cartridge was in its proper place, “ All 
right! ”, he said, and at once number 4 withdrew 
the rammer, and he and number 3 stepped outside 
the breeching, and faced toward the ship’s side. 
The first captain, assisted by a handspike-man on 
each side, adjusted the elevation by setting the 
quoin; and the tackle-men having the ropes in hand, 
and helped by the handspike-men, the shot-and- 
wadding-men, and the fireman, stood ready for the 
word. The first captain, with the lanyard coiled 
in his hand, then gave the command, “ Run out.” 

Instantly the tackle-ropes were drawn through 
the blocks, and the cannon was at the ship’s side, its 
muzzle protruding to its limit. The ropes were 
dropped, and the men stood aside from the cannon. 

The lieutenant commanding the battery section 
then would give the target and the elevation. The 
first captain corrected the position of the cannon, 
with the aid of the handspike-men and the tackle- 
men, and waited the command: 

“ Fire!” 

The first captain pulled firmly on the lanyard, 
and jumped aside in order to avoid the recoil. The 
spark from the gun-lock met the priming, and was 
followed immediately by a puff of smoke from the 
touchhole. The cannon roared as the cloud of flame 
and smoke left the muzzle, following the ball, and 
then lumbered backward and upward as the breech¬ 
ing caught it in the recoil. 


82 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 


Immediately the first captain stepped to the can¬ 
non’s breech, coiling the lanyard. He closed the 
vent with a plug in his left hand, and cocked the lock 
with his right. 

“ Run in,” he commanded. 

The men of the gun-crew nearest the breech 
seized the train-tackle rope, and hauled the clumsy 
monster back to the position for loading. Number 
4 at once sponged the bore again to make sure no 
powder sparks nor burning fragments of the wad¬ 
ding remained. Further to insure that all sparks 
were put out, the plug was kept in the vent, stopping 
all draught. In lack of a plug, the gun captain 
pressed the ball of his thumb firmly over the touch- 
hole. 

Then the reloading was resumed in the same order 
as before. 

The process could be accomplished in a little 
more than a minute, and the gun-crews prided them¬ 
selves on the speed with which they could load and 
fire their pieces. 

If the battery were firing broadsides, as soon as 
the cannon was loaded and ready, the first captain 
announced to the officer commanding the section: 

“ Number—, gun ready, sir.” 

If, on the other hand, the guns were being well 
served, and the enemy’s fire became hot, the com¬ 
mand, “ Independent fire,” would be given. Here 
the officer might indicate the target, and the num¬ 
ber of solid shot, or other kind of ammunition to 


OUT OF BOSTON 


83 

be used, as he was able to see the effect of the fire 
on the enemy, when the cannon-smoke drifted away 
enough for an observation. 

Captain Hull was very careful as to the amount 
of powder used in these drills. He cut the size of 
a charge down to barely enough to make a small 
cartridge, and as it was not rammed tightly, it made 
less sound, and mostly a light smoke. The captain 
did not want to attract the attention of any squadron 
of enemy ships, if that one he recently escaped was 
still cruising anywhere near; nor did he want the 
sound of the guns to be heard by the people on the 
mainland, and cause them to think that a battle was 
in progress somewhere out of sight. He was look¬ 
ing for enemy shipping of any kind, and did not in¬ 
tend to announce his presence or frighten any ves¬ 
sels away. 

By August fourth, the frigate was headed into 
the Bay of Fundy, but no evidence of a British ves¬ 
sel was obtained; so Captain Hull turned about 
and headed out around Cape Sable, and on the 
seventh passed Cape Sable Island. Thence the 
frigate was headed northeasterly again, and the next 
day Halifax was somewhere off the port beam. 

After beating about, off the Nova Scotia coast, 
with Sable Island on the starboard beam, and seeing 
nothing of any interest, Captain Hull decided that 
he would look into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and see 
if he could find the British 38-guns-frigate Spartan, 
which had been reported possibly in that locality, 


84 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

watching the mouth of the St. Lawrence river. 
Should His Majesty’s ship be elsewhere, Captain 
Hull thought he might run across some of the mer¬ 
chant vessels making for Quebec. So the course 
was continued northeasterly until in the vicinity of 
Newfoundland, and to the southeast of Cape Breton 
The Constitution had now been a week out of Bos¬ 
ton, but had encountered nothing. 

That night, August ninth, the luck changed. It 
was an unusually dark night. The clouds were 
thick and hung low, so the Constitution was put un¬ 
der short sail, just enough to keep steerage-way, for 
Captain Hull considered it safer to be on the watch, 
with time enough to decide what to do, than to rush 
along, and possibly encounter the enemy in numbers, 
and find himself in a tight place again. 

It was late in the night when the lookout on the 
forecastle thought he heard the rush of a vessel be¬ 
fore the wind. Word was sent to the officer of the 
deck, who at once went forward, and standing on 
the heel of the bowsprit, he listened. 

“ What did you think you heard? ” he asked the 
lookout man. 

“ It sounded, sir, like a large vessel before the 
wind. I could hear her rigging creaking—there; 
I can hear it nowl ” exclaimed the seaman. 

“You’re right,” said the lieutenant, “There’s a 
large ship close aboard of us. There, I can see one 
of her cabin lights! ” Then he went aft, in order 
to call Captain Hull. 



OUT OF BOSTON 


85 

The captain came on deck. He agreed with the 
lieutenant that there was another vessel near, and 
holding about the same course as the Constitution; 
but she showed no other lights than the one seen, 
and had not attempted to speak. She seemed to be 
gaining on the frigate, and passing her, but the 
cabin-light remained in about the same place. It 
was a mysterious situation. 

“ She knows we are close by, and is uncertain 
what to do,” said Captain Hull, “ She is going ahead 
of us, but that light seems in about the same place. 
I have it! ” he exclaimed, “ She’s afraid of us, and 
has dropped that light, to float behind, and fool us 
as to her course. That’s no ‘ cabin-light ’. It’s too 
low. It’s a poop-lantern set afloat to deceive us. 
We’re chasing the wrong craft. Port, a little, 
helmsman,” to the men at the wheel, “ we’ll follow 
on and see if we can find out what she is. You might 
put on a little more sail, sir; enough to keep us 
along with her.” 

The officer of the deck increased the sail on the 
frigate, and as she began to gain on the silent stran¬ 
ger, she overhauled her until her dim outline could 
be seen. She still showed no lights, and gave no 
further sign of wanting to speak the Constitution, 
which hung to her, about an eighth of a mile astern. 
In this way the night was passed, and when the day 
began to break, a war vessel under British colors 
was seen ahead. Nor was she alone; a large bark 
was trailing along behind her, evidently a prize. 


86 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 


As the Constitution overhauled the bark, a boat 
was sent aboard, and it was learned that she was a 
Dutch vessel which, because she was flying the 
British flag, had been captured by an American 
privateer, which had put a prize-crew aboard; but 
before they could get her out of the way the British 
sloop-of-war Ranger came up, and retook her; so 
there were two prize-crews aboard. Being an in¬ 
different sailer, she was not able to keep up with the 
Ranger. 

It was learned from this vessel’s crew, that the 
Ranger had sent another prize into Halifax; and 
had just burned another vessel loaded with hemp 
and rosin, the smoke of which could be seen some 
distance away. 

Putting the British prize-crew under guard, and 
directing the American prize-master to follow the 
frigate, Captain Hull put on more sail, and made 
for the Ranger, which was crowding all sail, trying 
to get away from the big American that so unex¬ 
pectedly had come up behind. But it was useless; 
the Constitution being in fine sailing-trim steadily 
overhauled the sloop. 

“ It is very evident,” said Captain Hull to a group 
of officers who were watching the chase, “ that 
4 Jumping Billy ’ Harraden knew what he was about 
when he re-stowed the ballast on this ship, for she 
never sailed better, and if any one on board should 
know, it is I. If we had not hove her out at Wash¬ 
ington, and had her copper renailed, as well as 


OUT OF BOSTON 87 

other improvements which ‘ Jumping Billy ’ made, 
she never could have escaped that British squadron; 
and we should not be here to-day. 

“ Harraden made that job a labor of love. He 
was sailing-master under Captain Preble, and so 
knew what she did, and what she ought to do. 
Gentlemen; if any of you ever have a command, 
and ‘ Jumping Billy’ can overhaul her, let him; 
it will be a good investment in speed.” 

Meanwhile, the Constitution was coming up 
rapidly on the Ranger, when another ship was seen 
to leeward. Captain Hull decided to look at her, 
and let the Ranger run on; and if she got away, he 
did not care. Accordingly the Constitution went 
after the other vessel, which was the fourth of the 
Ranger’s prizes. She proved to be an American 
brig, Adeline, with a British prize-crew aboard. 
Midshipman Madison was given command, with 
a small crew, and sent to an American port. By 
this time the Ranger was too far away to chase 
farther. 

On August eighteenth, after an uneventful day, 
about half-past nine in the evening, a vessel was 
discovered, and sail was immediately made in her 
direction. She was a good sailer, and led the frig¬ 
ate a merry chase, but Captain Hull was perfectly 
at home on a racing vessel, and for some time he 
handled the frigate himself, with great skill; mak¬ 
ing or changing sail according to the variations of 
the wind; moving the crew on deck from starboard 


88 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


to port, and back again, in order to give the frigate 
the best feel of the water. 

After a few hours the frigate overhauled the 
smaller vessel, and firing a shot across her bow, or¬ 
dered her to heave to. 

A boat was sent aboard, and reported back, that 
the vessel was the American privateer Decatur, in a 
most unfortunate condition, for seeing the Constitu¬ 
tion coming down, and not being able to distin¬ 
guish in the darkness her flag, or to recognize her, 
every effort was made to escape what was supposed 
to be a big British warship. To increase the speed, 
the privateer had thrown overboard her cannon, 
one by one, until twelve of the complement of four¬ 
teen were gone; and all in vain, because the big 
ship steadily outfooted the privateer. 

The Decatur was a graceful vessel, her lines 
built for speed, but now she was practically help¬ 
less, being so disarmed. For a day she kept along 
with the Constitution, and until about eleven P.M., 
when the frigate discovered another vessel, a brig, 
which on being hailed, reported to be the Baltimore 
privateer John. 

The commander of the John reported that they 
had been chased all the day before by a large ship, 
evidently a British warship, but they escaped her 
during the night. 


CHAPTER VI 


FIGHTING THE GUERRIERE 

WHILE the captain of the Decatur was on board 
the Constitution, he told the officers that a British 
frigate had been seen the day before steering south¬ 
ward, under easy sail; so Captain Hull ordered the 
course of the Constitution changed to that direc¬ 
tion, and had more sail put on, in order to overtake 
the enemy ship, if possible. As the frigate was 
moving at a good rate of speed, the crew began to 
wonder what was up. Moses Smith, who always 
seemed to know everything, and was understood to 
keep his own log of the ship, said, “ I tell you, boys, 
the Old Man smells a Britisher. He’s got a nose 
like a beagle, when he’s afloat, and he can tell if a 
ship is anywhere near; and almost tell what its flag is 
by the smell. You mark my words: if we don’t see 
a Britisher inside twenty-four hours, my name’s 
not 1 Smith ’.” It was then about four bells in the 
morning, and the frigate had been on her new course 
since midnight. 

All that forenoon the ship held her course, the 
wind being northwesterly, but nothing was sighted. 
The crew was kept busy overhauling the guns and 

89 


90 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


rigging; and about four bells in the forenoon, gen¬ 
eral quarters was sounded. The men rushed to 
their places, and in a very few minutes the officers 
of the divisions reported them ready for action. 

“Very good, men,” said Captain Hull, “next 
time you hear that call, beat this record, for it may 
mean winning a fight, if you gain one minute.” 

The crew was dismissed for dinner, but a sharp 
watch was being kept at the masthead. A few 
minutes before four bells in the afternoon (about 
two o’clock) the lookout on the fore-royal yard, 
who had been charged to keep his eyes open and to 
see everything, hailed the deck: 

“Sail ho!” 

“ Where away? ” asked the officer of the deck. 

“ About two points off the larboard bow, sir,” re¬ 
plied the lookout. 

Almost before those words were spoken, the sail¬ 
ors were crowding up into the rigging, running up 
the shrouds to the tops, in their eagerness to see what 
the stranger looked like; but the vessel was too far 
away for any one to tell what kind of a ship she 
was. 

Capain Hull at once changed the course of the 
Constitution; put out the studding sails, and headed 
the frigate directly for the stranger. Every officer 
who had a glass was looking very intently in the 
direction where the strange ship was supposed to 
be, but she was too low down to the deck, and it was 
not until about three o’clock that their glasses 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 91 

showed the stranger to be a large ship, on the star¬ 
board tack, close-hauled, under easy sail. 

From that time the Constitution closed in rapidly, 
as the stranger ship seemed to be waiting for her; 
and it was soon seen that she was a warship. At 
half-past three her portholes could be seen, so it 
was evident that she was a man-o’-war. 

“ What’d I tell ye?” said Moses Smith, with 
evident delight that his prophecy was confirmed. 
“ Didn’t I say the Old Man smelled a Britisher? ” 

“ How do ye know, now, that’s a British ship, 
Mose? ” asked a sailor. 

“ ‘ How do I know? ’ Course its a British ship, 
and a fightin’ one. Look at her stand up on the 
waves. She’s a big ship; and our work’s cut out 
for us,” was Smith’s reply. 

And Smith was nearer right than he pretended 
to be; for in a few minutes the stranger had short¬ 
ened her topsails, foresail, jib and spanker; backed 
the main topsail, and lay by on the starboard tack, 
evidently waiting for the American ship to come 
down to her. 

As soon as he saw that the stranger evidently was 
a British warship, and willing to fight, Captain 
Hull accepted the challenge. He immediately 
ordered the studding sails taken in; royal yards sent 
down; took two reefs in the topsails; hauled up fore¬ 
sail and mainsail, and had everything aloft in con¬ 
venient shape for action. 

The vessels were near enough now that more 


92 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

details could be seen. There was about three miles 
of sea between them, but it was not too far to be 
unable to discover the character of the enemy. 

“ If we do not know what ship she is, we certainly 
know what one she isn’t,” said Lieutenant Hoffman, 
who had been studying her through his glass. “ I 
can read on her fore-topsail, ‘ N-O-T—Not, 
T-H-E—The, L-I-T-T-L-E—Little, B-E-L-T— 
Belt; Not the Little Belt.’ Evidently she knows 
what happened to that saucy craft, and has a chip on 
her shoulder for any American warship.” 

Lieutenant Hoffman had reference to an in¬ 
cident which occurred in the spring of 1811, when 
Captain Rodgers, in the frigate President, looking 
for the British frigate Guerriere, encountered a 
vessel, which did not respond to his hail in proper 
manner, but answered by a shot, which lodged 
in the mainmast, followed by a broadside. The 
affair occurred in the evening, when it was too dark 
to discover the identity of either vessel. Rodgers 
returned the broadside, and in a few minutes 
silenced her. In the morning the vessel was dis¬ 
covered several miles distant, and Rodgers ran 
toward her to see if she needed assistance. The 
vessel proved to be the British sloop-of-war Little 
Belt, eighteen guns, Captain Bingham, and she had 
an experience which suggested letting other ships 
alone, unless fully identified. It was evident that 
this ship did not intend to be misunderstood, and was 
a fighter. 



FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 93 

It was now 4.45 o’clock, and Captain Hull 
ordered the crew to quarters. This was almost un¬ 
necessary, except as a matter of routine, for the 
crew were ready and eager for the probable engage¬ 
ment. John Heath felt the enthusiasm of the 
moment. He forgot that he was about to ex¬ 
perience a battle; with cannon-shot coming 
aboard, smashing the ship’s sides and timbers; over¬ 
turning guns and killing and wounding the men. 
That he might be killed or wounded did not occur 
to him, for the moment, so fired was he with the 
same spirit as affected the whole ship’s crew. As 
the drum beat to quarters, and Tom Byron, the fifer, 
blew his fife as loudly as possible, the guns’ crews 
gathered at their stations, on the run. Men were 
stripping off their shirts, and drawing their belts 
closer. Everybody was cheering and shouting, 
whether words or not made no difference. John 
grabbed his powder-bucket from its place by the 
gun, and ran down the companionway to the mag¬ 
azine, where he found the other powder-boys 
gathering, crowding before the canvas curtain hung 
before the door to the magazine, with a hole in it 
just large enough to permit a cartridge to be passed 
through. This screen was wet to prevent any 
sparks or fire from entering the magazine. 

The boys were receiving their cartridges, and 
hurrying back to the guns. Soon it was John’s 
turn, and he filled his bucket and ran up the com¬ 
panion ladders to the division to which he was at- 


94 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

tached, on the main deck. Just as he reached his 
gun, Captain Hull and the lieutenant commanding 
the division passed along. The Captain’s face was 
aglow with animation; he spoke encouragingly to 
the men: 

“ Men,” he said, “ now is the time to do your duty, 
as you never did it before. Your officers cannot be 
watching every man, to see that he performs his 
duty. Each one of you must take command of him¬ 
self, and do his best for the ship and his country! ” 

“ Aye, aye, Captain! ” they cried, “ We will do 
our duty. Just lay us alongside that Britisher, and 
we’ll do the rest! ” 

In the few minutes following the visit of the 
captain among the crew, while they waited for the 
orders to begin the action, the spontaneous enthusi¬ 
asm of the moment of excitement began to pass 
away, and more sober thoughts took their place in 
the minds of the men. It is indeed a solemn mo¬ 
ment when the crew of a frigate ready for action 
with another, the two being on the ocean by them¬ 
selves, waits for the words which will let loose de¬ 
struction, injury, and death. To wait, looking for¬ 
ward to being killed, wounded, blown up, or 
drowned, is not a happy situation; but there is no 
alternative. There is no escape from the position, 
even if one wanted to withdraw. If a man trembled 
for a moment at the possibilities, what would be ex¬ 
pected of young boys? That they should be half 
beside themselves with fear would not be surprising. 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 95 

But such was not the case on the Constitution at this 
moment. As Captain Hull stated in his report, 
after the action, to the United States Government: 
“ From the smallest boy in the ship, to the oldest 
seaman, not a look of fear was seen. They all 
went into action giving three cheers, and requested 
to be laid close alongside the enemy.” 

With such stirring thoughts filling the minds of 
the crew, the frigate was drawing steadily nearer to 
her enemy. Four English flags had just blown 
out in the rigging of the enemy, and a broadside was 
fired in the direction of the Constitution, but the 
shot fell short. Meanwhile, the American ship was 
holding her fire. 

At 5.20 o’clock three flags went up on the Con¬ 
stitution s masts, as she continued to move into a 
satisfactory position: the ensign at the mizzen-peak, 
a jack at the fore and mizzen topgallant mastheads; 
while another jack was held back, ready to be sent 
up to the top of the mainmast. The British frigate 
filled away; wore, and then fired a broadside, 
while on the other tack, still without effect. 

For about three-quarters of an hour the British 
frigate continued wearing and tacking, in attempt 
to get a raking position; but Captain Hull was 
working his ship as he had handled her in that race, 
in 1799 when she was on the San Domingo station, 
and beat the British cruiser handily; so he tacked 
and half-tacked, keeping the men at the braces; and 
avoided being raked. Then the enemy ship bore 


96 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

up to bring the wind on the quarter, running under 
topsails and jib. 

The Constitution had not been gaining much 
during the same time, except escaping punishment 
from the enemy’s long guns; meanwhile, the crew 
was fretting at the long delay of orders to com¬ 
mence firing. So, finding that his ship was coming 
up very slowly; and having received some effective 
shots which they were not able to return with similar 
force, Captain Hull ordered the maintopgallant 
sail set. 

Just before this, an 18-pound shot from the 
British ship had come aboard, under the larboard 
knighthead, doing some damage. The splinters 
flew generously, but no one was seriously hurt. 
The cannon-ball had stopped on the deck; and the 
crew of “ Long Tom,” as they had dubbed a fore¬ 
castle gun, picked it up, and loading it into their 
pet, returned it to the enemy. Another British 
shot had hit the foremast, cutting one of the hoops, 
but the injury was trivial. 

In this way the long guns of the enemy were 
having their effect on the Constitution, and Captain 
Hull seeing, that if he would have any advantage 
for his shorter armament, he must bring the action 
closer, pushed the frigate into half-pistol-shot. 

Meanwhile the Constitution s men were suffering 
from the strain of the inactivity, and some from 
minor injuries from splinters, and several had 
been carried to the cockpit for surgical treatment. 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 97 

Two men had been killed, and the guns’ crews 
were becoming very impatient. 

“ For God’s sake! ” exclaimed Bill Sisson, a gun¬ 
ner on the main deck, “What’s the use? This 
ain’t the way frigates ought to fight. It’s too much 
like a Dutch bargain—all on one side. ’Tain’t 
like fightin’ the Turks at Tripoli. There we went 
right on their own decks.” 

“Ask Old Ike,” replied Jack Ford, “he’s run- 
nin’ this affair. Perhaps he’s goin’ to range along¬ 
side, and ask the Britishers to put a plank across, 
so’s to come aboard and muster us for deserters.” 

“ You blasted jackass! ” exclaimed Pete Bradley, 
“ The Old Man knows what he’s doin’, and don’t 
you forgit it. If you’re in doubt, ask Moses Smith, 
for Moses knows. We’re takin’ our medicine, and 
it ain’t very hard yet. Wait a minute. We’ll be 
in the game soon.” 

Just then another shot came aboard the forecastle, 
and knocked over Ike Kingman. “ A man’s killed! 
A man’s killed! ” yelled somebody, but Ike jumped 
up, all right. “ You didn’t get me then, you smart 
Britishers! ” he yelled, shaking his fist at the enemy 
ship, where the gun-crew who had made the hit 
were cheering. 

Lieutenant Morris stepped to Captain Hull, who 
was walking back and forth on the quarter-deck, 
watching the enemy, and said in a low tone, “ The 
ship is all ready for action, sir; and the men are 
getting impatient.” 


98 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

Captain Hull did not turn his head, but con¬ 
tinued to watch the enemy. “ Are you all ready, 
Mr. Morris? ” 

“ All ready, sir.” 

“ Don’t open fire until I give the orders, Mr. 
Morris.” 

Although spoken in a low tone, the men at the 
nearest guns heard the conversation, and there was 
muttering and hard breathing. 

“ Well, may I be hung for a marine,” said Ben 
Flyblock, “ What’s the matter that we’re not 
fightin’? What’re we here for? ” 

“ You go ask the Old Man. Perhaps he will 
tell you his secrets, since he won’t tell ’em to the 
lieutenant,” remarked another of the gun-crew. 

Ben Flyblock did not accept the suggestion, but 
just then Lieutenant Morris went to the captain a 
second time. 

“ The enemy has opened fire, and killed two of 
our men. Shall we return it? ” 

“Not yet, sir,” was the captain’s answer. He 
was conning the ship with great care, waiting for 
the shorter range he needed. Even the third time 
the lieutenant went to him, he received the same 
quiet cool reply. 

Meanwhile an encouraging incident occurred, 
which pleased the men, diverting their attention 
for the moment. 

One of a main-deck gun-crew looked out of the 
porthole just as a cannon-ball from the enemy ship 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 99 

struck the side of the Constitution . Instead of 
smashing its way in, it bounded off, barely leaving 
a dent. 

“ Hurrah,” he cried, “ Their shots don’t hurt 
us. Her sides are made of iron! ” 

Immediately the gun-crew took up the cry. 
“She has iron sides!” “The British shot can’t 
hurt ‘ Old Ironsides’!” 

The new nickname for their ship seemed to please 
the men, immediately. They quickly took it up all 
over the ship. “ Old Ironsides! Old Ironsides! ” 
was the cry, and the officers at their stations smiled, 
considering it a good omen. 

The British frigate was now before the wind. 
It was five minutes past six o’clock, and the Con¬ 
stitution was rapidly overreaching the enemy’s 
quarter, about 40 yards distant, and increasing the 
gain rapidly. Then Captain Hull stopped “ plank¬ 
ing the deck”; stooped over till his hands almost 
touched the deck, and he was obliged to hold his 
hat on his head; straightened up to his full height 
drawing himself up as much as he could, for he 
was a comparatively short and stout man; waved 
his hat in the air, and shouted, in a voice heard all 
over the ship: 

“Now, boys, pour it into them! Fire as the 
guns bear!” As he said this, he dropped his 
hat, and energetically began slapping his thighs 
with a sound almost like pistol shots. It was an 
exciting moment, and for the instant the dignified 


ioo A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 


captain of the frigate forgot himself, in his en¬ 
thusiasm. 

The guns had been double-shotted. The gun¬ 
crews obeyed instantly, with a triumphant yell, 
almost as loud as the cannon roar. The broadside 
was like the explosion from one gun. The whole 
force of the discharge fell on the enemy ship as she 
rolled to starboard, exposing her underside almost 
to the bilge. The Constitution s shots took effect 
all along this exposed side, tearing the planking and 
timbers till her gun deck was exposed. As she 
rolled back, blood ran from her scuppers, from the 
killed and wounded, who were terribly torn by that 
blast of round and grape. Again and again; as 
fast as they could load and fire, the crew of the 
Constitution poured their shot into the British 
frigate. For fifteen minutes, as the two ships held 
along, yard-arm to yard-arm, they fought each 
other, each firing as rapidly as possible: 

In this terrible duel, the difference in damage to 
each ship was noticeable. The British frigate suf¬ 
fered the more, because the American gunners 
aimed their cannon as the enemy ship rolled away 
on the long swells. 

“ Hull her! Hull her! ” was the cry of the crew 
of the Constitution, and “ hull her ” they did, every 
shot tearing great gaps in the side of the British 
ship. 

The action on the British ship was different. 
The gun-crews loaded quickly, fired as quickly 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” ioi 

without aiming. The result was that the broad¬ 
sides were discharged as their ship rolled, regard¬ 
less of position on the swell, and the greater part 
of the fire was given as the ship rolled away from 
its antagonist, and so the shot went over her hull, 
through the rigging, and was spent in the air. Of 
the two, the American ship suffered more general 
injury to the rigging, while the British ship’s masts 
suffered, near the deck. 

At the end of those terrible fifteen minutes the 
enemy’s main yard had been shot away in the slings, 
and injuries were evident everywhere; a 24-pound 
shot struck fairly in the mizzenmast of the British 
frigate, a few feet above the deck; and the mast fell 
away, over the side, to starboard, knocking a hole 
under the ship’s counter. All the mass of wreckage 
of the mast and sails acted as a rudder, as it brought 
the frigate up to the wind. 

Seeing this first severe damage to the enemy, 
Captain Hull took advantage of the success of the 
Constitution s fire, and seizing his hat from his head 
waved it, shouting u Huzza, boys; we’ve made a 
brig of her! ” 

“ She’ll be a sloop in a few minutes,” shouted one 
of the crew on the spar-deck, who saw the state of 
the enemy. 

As the British frigate felt the influence of the 
wreckage dragging overside, she swung toward 
the Constitution, and her bow pointed toward the 
latter’s starboard quarter. Captain Hull put the 


102 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


ship’s helm hard to port, so as to give him a better 
opportunity for raking; but the Constitution s 
braces had suffered from the enemy’s fire; and the 
mizzensails were so damaged as to delay the ship 
in the movement, but she swung enough as she 
forged ahead, to allow a raking broadside to be 
poured in as the guns bore, and before the enemy 
gained a safer position, a second broadside increased 
the damage. 

At 6.15 o’clock the British frigate’s jib boom 
swung over the quarter-deck of the Constitution, 
where Lieutenant Shubrick was in command. So 
near was she that a man at a gun in the cabin reached 
out of a porthole of the Constitution, and put his 
hand on the figurehead of the British ship. 

As the bowsprit fouled the mizzen rigging of the 
Constitution, the British ship’s bow-chasers were 
used with terrible effect, making havoc of the Con¬ 
stitutions cabin, and setting it afire. 

Lieutenant Hoffman, who was in command there, 
being a man with a clear head, and steady in an 
emergency, set his men to putting out the fire be¬ 
fore attempting to answer the enemy’s cannon. 
This effort called for more men than were at the 
cabin guns, and the diversion of attention was 
noticed by the British captain, who called away 
boarders, intending to carry the fighting, by way 
of the bowsprit of his ship, to the deck of the Con¬ 
stitution; but when he saw there were plenty of 
men on the American’s deck, ready with cutlasses, 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 103 

pikes, and other weapons, and marines with muskets 
and bayonets, to receive any uninvited visitors from 
the British ship, he hesitated; and the opportunity 
went by. At the same time, the Americans were 
ready to attempt the same form of attack. 

“ Shall I call the boarders, sir? ” asked Lieuten¬ 
ant Read of Captain Hull. 

“ No, no,” he replied, “ I guess not yet. We can 
take her without losing so many men as we should 
if we boarded.” 

Lieutenant Morris again showed his zeal, by 
seizing a rope dangling from the enemy’s bowsprit, 
which was thrashing up and down over the Con¬ 
stitutions quarter-deck, and climbed up, passing 
a few turns of the main-brace around the spar. 
Just as he was about completing this efficient 
service, a sharpshooter in the enemy’s foretop fired 
at him, the bullet felled him to the deck, where he 
lay stunned. He was unnoticed in the excitement, 
and in a few minutes returned to his duty. Mean¬ 
while, First Lieutenant Brush of the Marines, and 
Sailing-Master Alwyn ran to the taffrail, with their 
men, ready to board the enemy. 

Again the British sharpshooters got in their 
work; and a ball from the maintop struck Alwyn 
in the shoulder; and as Lieutenant Brush mounted 
the taffrail, crying out, “ Shall I board her? ” an¬ 
other bullet striking him in the head, killed him 
instantly. 

Captain Hull, seeing that it was the opportunity 


104 A S0N 0F “OLD IRONSIDES” 

for his crew to board the enemy, stepped on an arm- 
chest, and was about to take the next step to the top 
of the taffrail, when one of the near-by sailors, 
grabbed him, saying earnestly, and without dis¬ 
respect, “ For God’s sake, Captain, don’t you go any 
further, unless you take them swabs off your 
shoulders!” referring to the captain’s epaulets. 
The captain wisely hesitated, and by that time the 
movements of the two vessels separated them enough 
to make boarding by either force impossible. The 
crews of the two ships were massed at the point of 
contact, and every attempt was being made to do 
execution. The British captain had reached the 
hammock-nettings of his ship, and was urging on 
his men; as he turned to direct them, a marine on 
the Constitution shot at him, and the ball struck him 
in the back, passing near a vital spot, but not im¬ 
mediately incapacitating him. An American 
sailor having failed to hit the man he aimed at, 
with pistol-fire, threw the empty weapon with 
better aim, hitting the British sailor in the breast, 
knocking him over. The American marines, of 
whom there were seven in each top, six loading 
muskets, and one firing them, hit the British sailing- 
master and his mate, putting them both out of action 
for the time being. 

About this time, the halliards of the ensign at 
the mizzen masthead being injured, the flag was 
carried away, which fact was noticed by the British 
crew with cheers; but John Hogan ascended the 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 105 

rigging, and climbing the mast, lashed the flag 
stoutly to the slender spar. Although he was the 
target of a number of British sharpshooters in the 
tops, they failed to hit him, and he returned safely 
to the deck. 

“ Well done, my man! ” said Captain Hull, “ I 
will not forget that good service. You’ve put the 
flag up, now we must keep it there! ” 

The two ships continued to roll and thrash in the 
rough sea, and in the position they were, the British 
ship was receiving the severe broadside fire from 
the Constitution , and was unable to reply. Pres¬ 
ently they fell apart, and the Constitution forged 
ahead. 

As the British frigate cleared the American’s 
rigging, she pitched forward enough for the bow¬ 
sprit to strike the Constitution s taffrail. The 
blow slackened the forestays of the British ship, and 
as the port shrouds of the foremast had been cut 
away, the foremast went by the board to starboard. 

The tremendous leverage of the falling mast 
and rigging wrenched the already weakened main¬ 
mast; and immediately, with a thundering crash, it 
followed the foremast, and all the top-hamper of 
the frigate went over to starboard, splashing the 
water high, and dragging the dismasted hull into the 
trough of the sea. There she lay, and rolled, a 
complete wreck; unable to make further resistance. 
Some one raised a flag on a spar, and lashed it to the 
stump of the mizzenmast, to show she had not sur- 


io6 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES" 


rendered, but her main-deck guns were touching 
the water, as she rolled, and her fighting was over. 

It was now 6.23 o’clock, or about two hours since 
the British frigate began to fire her guns; but it was 
less than thirty minutes from the time the Con¬ 
stitution opened fire. 

The Constitution continued her headway, now 
freed from the tangle with the enemy, and Captain 
Hull allowed her to move on. He called all hands 
to make repairs, for he had an idea that another 
British ship might appear any moment, and he 
must be ready to meet her. So for about three- 
quarters of an hour the crew of the Constitution 
leaving the silenced enemy to herself, was busy 
splicing and reeving ropes, replacing shot-torn 
sails, and making everything as safe and snug as 
possible. 

The killed and wounded were all attended to. 
Seven men had finished their cruise, and in the hurry 
and excitement of the fight, the shattered bodies of 
some had been thrown overboard. Those remain¬ 
ing on the decks were decently prepared for burial, 
and the seven wounded men had been made as com¬ 
fortable as possible. 

“What did I tell ye? What did I tell ye?” 
shouted Moses Smith, as he went about the work 
of putting the main-deck guns in order. 

“Well, well, Mose, are you still here?” called 
another seaman. “ I thought I saw you headin’ 
for the hold, when the fire was gettin’ hot.” 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 107 

Moses paid no attention to this slander, but con¬ 
tinued to remark, “ I told ye we’d have a fight in 
less’n twenty-four hours, and it looks as if we did. 
Anyway, that hulk out there,” pointing at the now 
distant and drifting British vessel, “ has been in a 
fight; and a hard one.” 

John Heath, now that the battle was over, and he 
was unscarred, was rejoicing inwardly that he had 
been spared; and was smiling broadly, outwardly, 
as he picked up the refuse and scattered traces of the 
work of the guns. 

Naturally he felt proud and happy that he had 
been in a big sea-fight, and had come out of it un¬ 
harmed. Now that it was over, it did not seem so 
terrible after all. He had seen a man killed, torn 
almost to pieces by the shot, and it had not disturbed 
him. It seemed to have been part of a great game 
he was playing; so that when others were wounded, 
and blood was to be seen on the decks, he was not 
frightened. 

“ Well, my boy, here you are,” said Sam Bunting, 
the quartermaster, “ You done well. The British¬ 
ers didn’t get ye, and you did your part in gettin’ 
some of them; and I reckon we got quite a parcel 
of ’em, from the way the ship’s sides are red. We’ll 
be goin’ back soon as we’re picked up, and see how 
many of ’em we did get. ’Twas a good fight, 
wa’n’t it, messmate? ” 

“ Yes, sir,” replied John, “ I never was in a fight 
before, but I liked it.” 


io8 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


“ That’s the way to talk. Always 1 like ’ a fight 
when you’re in it for your country,” and the good- 
natured sailor went on about his duty. 

Having completed temporary repairs, enough to 
be in serviceable condition, during which time the 
Constitution had moved in a circle, about seven 
o’clock she ran back toward the British ship, which 
was riding under spritsails, which had been rigged 
to steady her. 

As the Constitution approached her recent 
enemy, a gun was fired from her leeward side, in 
token of submission, which was answered by the 
American frigate. As soon as her topsails were 
set to give her steerageway, she ran under the lee 
of the British hulk. Courses were hauled up, and 
the main topsail was flattened against the mast. 

“What ship is that?” was the hail from the 
Constitution . 

“ His Britannic Majesty’s frigate Guerriere, 
Captain James Richard Dacres. Will you send a 
boat aboard? ” 

No longer did she look like the graceful frigate, 
which threatened the Americans in the afternoon. 
Now, all the masts and sails were gone. Only the 
hull was left, and that was unmanageable, rolling 
like a log in the sea. She was terribly shot to pieces, 
not even a boat was left. 

A cutter was sent with Lieutenant Reed in com¬ 
mand. At eight o’clock he returned with the 
captain of the defeated frigate. 


FIGHTING THE ^GUERRIERE” 109 

Lieutenant Reed addressed Captain Hull, say¬ 
ing, “ Sir, I have the honor to report that His 
Britannic Majesty’s frigate Guerriere , of forty- 
nine guns; Captain James Richard Dacres, has 
surrendered; and I present, sir, Captain Dacres.” 

As Captain Dacres stepped down on the deck, 
Captain Hull exclaimed “ Captain Dacres, I’m 
Glad to see you! Give me your hand; I know you 
are hurt.” 

Captain Dacres glowered with pain and disap¬ 
pointment. “Yes, damn you, I suppose you are 
glad, but I’m damned if I am glad to see you.” 
Evidently he was suffering from his wounds. He 
then straightened up, drew himself to his full 
height, and said: 

“ Captain Hull, I present to you, sir, my sword, 
in token of the surrender of His Britannic Majesty’s 
frigate Guerriere.” 

With those dignified words, Captain Dacres ex¬ 
tended the hilt of his unsheathed sword to Captain 
Hull. 

“ No, no! ” said Captain Hull, shaking his head, 
while an expression of sympathy showed on his 
face, “ I will not take a sword from one who knows 
so well how to use it—but, I’ll trouble you for that 
1 hat ’.” 

This seemingly incongruous remark was a de¬ 
cided anti-climax to the solemn and serious formal¬ 
ity of Captain Dacres, who for the moment was 
taken aback. Then, he too, relaxed his stern expres- 



Iio A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


sion and a faint smile came over his drawn and sad 
countenance. He remembered, then, how a few 
years before, when he had met Captain Hull 
socially, they discussed the merits of their respec¬ 
tive ships. Captain Dacres wished to bet a sum 
of money on the result, if they ever met in battle; 
but Captain Hull, being more conservative of his 
means, as was becoming a Yankee, was willing to 
make the wager a hat. To that Captain Dacres 
agreed, and the bet between the captains stood 
until this day, when Captain Hull felt justified in 
demanding the payment. 

Having ended the formalities of surrender most 
informally, Captain Hull escorted the weary and 
suffering British officer below, to the cabin. 

The next thing to be done was to save the crew 
of the British ship, which seemed in danger of 
foundering. The boats of the Constitution were 
hoisted out; and during the night they were con¬ 
stantly engaged in transferring the Guerriere's crew 
and their property. 

In this work, every care was taken to secure all 
personal belongings of the officers and men. Cap¬ 
tain Hull was insistent that no one should lose 
anything, if it could be found and saved. 

The prisoners were made up into messes, and 
assigned such quarters as the crowded space would 
allow. The Constitution had a crew of 460, but 
places were found for everybody. The American 
officers welcomed the British officers to the ward- 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” in 


room, and there was little evidence of the recent 
deadly rivalry. 

Interesting incidents of life aboard the Guerriere 
leaked out; stories of humorous situations were told 
over the wardroom table. 

It seems that Captain Dacres, in his pride of ship 
and crew, had taken measures to advertise her 
abilities. Only three days before he met the Con¬ 
stitution, he made this entry in the log-book of an 
American vessel he overhauled, on her way to New 
York: 

“ Com. Dacres, commander of His Britannic 
Majesty’s frigate Guerriere , of 44 guns, presents 
his compliments to Com. Rodgers of the frigate 
President , and will be happy to meet him or any 
other frigate of equal force to the President off 
Sandy Hook, for the purpose of having a few 
minutes tete-a-tete.” 

This challenge, however, had no result, for it did 
not reach New York until several days after the 
battle was fought with the Constitution . 

Another enforced guest of Captain Hull was 
Captain William B. Orne, of Marblehead, Mass., 
commander of the bri g Betsey, from Naples, Italy, 
for Boston, which fell into the hands of the Guer¬ 
riere, and was sent into Halifax as a prize. Cap¬ 
tain Orne was held on the Guerriere, and on August 
nineteenth, saw the approach of a strange vessel, 


112 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


which appeared to be a warship. Captain Dacres 
after studying her through the glass, handed it to 
Captain Orne, asking his opinion. 

Captain Orne, in telling of the incident said: 

“ I soon saw from the peculiarity of her sails and 
her general appearance, that she was without doubt 
an American frigate, and communicated the same 
to Captain Dacres. He immediately replied that 
he thought she came down too boldly for an Ameri¬ 
can, but soon after he added, ‘ The better he behaves, 
the more honor we shall gain by taking him.’ 

“ Captain Dacres politely said to me, ‘ Captain 
Orne, as I suppose you do not wish to fight against 
your own countrymen, you are at liberty to go below 
the water-line. 7 

“ It was not long after this before I retired from 
the quarter-deck to the cockpit. Of course I saw no 
more of the action until the firing ceased, but I 
heard and felt much of its effect; for soon after I 
left the deck, the firing commenced on board the 
Guerriere, and was kept up almost constantly until 
about six o’clock, when I heard a tremendous ex¬ 
plosion from the opposing frigate. 

“ The effect of her shot seemed to make the 
Guerriere reel and tremble as though she had re¬ 
ceived the shock of an earthquake. Immediately 
after this I heard a tremendous crash on deck, and 
was told the mizzenmast was shot away. In a few 
moments afterwards, the cockpit was filled with 
wounded men. At about half-past six o’clock in 
the evening, after the firing had ceased, I went on 
deck and there beheld a scene which it would be 
difficult to describe. All the Guerriere's masts 


FIGHTING THE (( GUERRIERE ,f 113 

were shot away, and, as she had no sails to steady her, 
she lay rolling like a log in the trough of the sea. 

u That was what happened in about half an hour; 
and before the firing began, Captain Dacres had 
said to the crew, ‘There is a Yankee frigate; in 
forty-five minutes she is certainly ours. Take her 
in fifteen, and I promise you four months’ pay.’ 
I guess Captain Hull saved the British Government 
quite a sum of extra money.” 

Captain Dacres felt so sure that he would defeat 
the Constitution, that he indulged in a little humor 
over the possible result. He ordered that a 
puncheon of molasses should be hoisted to the spar 
deck, from the ship’s stores, in order “ to treat the 
damn Yankees to their favorite ‘ switchel 
(“ Switchel ” was a drink made of water with mo¬ 
lasses and ginger mixed in, and sometimes with 
some rum.) 

The order was executed, and in the first broad¬ 
side from the Constitution the puncheon was 
smashed, its contents spreading over the deck, 
making it slippery and sticky, a condition impos¬ 
sible to correct at the time and which was a serious 
disadvantage to the crew of the Guerriere. 

Such little incidents were recalled by different 
persons after the battle, and served to amuse, 
although they all had their serious side. But sailors 
cannot afford to feel sober and sad long; there is 
enough activity and change in their life to help 
them keep cheerful, even after such an experience. 


114 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES " 

Among the crew of the Guerriere were ten 
Americans, who reported that they had been 
impressed from vessels which the British frigate 
had captured or held up. They said, that when it 
was certain that there would be a battle, they went 
to Captain Dacres, and asked that they should not 
be obliged to fight against their countrymen. They 
said they were willing to do a sailor’s duty aloft or 
below, but they did not want to serve at the guns 
which were trying to kill their own people. 

Captain Dacres was humane enough to recognize 
the sense of the argument, and feeling that his own 
crew could take the American ship, sent the Ameri¬ 
cans below, to the berth deck, but put a quarter¬ 
master in charge of them, to make sure they at¬ 
tempted no treachery. 

One of these men, and the one who acted as 
spokesman, said to the captain, “ That is an Ameri¬ 
can frigate, sir; and I cannot fight against my 
country.” 

“Very well,” replied Captain Dacres, “you go 
to the cockpit. You may be of assistance there.” 
As it proved, they were much needed. 

There were a number of women on board of the 
Guerriere, as was the custom in the British Navy 
at that time. Married men often got their wives 
aboard, or women who passed as their wives, and 
they were tolerated. They made themselves useful 
as seamstresses, and the men paid them enough for 
their little services to warrant their being allowed a 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 115 

ration, or such supplies as might be obtained from 
the messes. 

During a battle the women helped, serving as 
powder-passers. They handed shot along from the 
lockers when it was needed in a hurry, and generally 
behaved very bravely, or else kept out of sight en¬ 
tirely. 

The discovery of these women among the pris¬ 
oners was a surprise to the Constitution s crew, who 
indulged in considerable joking over the presence 
of the “ Dollies,” as they called them; but they 
recognized their circumstances and saw to it that 
they were treated decently, and were kept with their 
husbands. 

“ Old Ironsides ” was now so crowded with her 
prisoners that some of the officers were afraid that 
the British might attempt an outbreak, and try to 
capture the frigate; but the Guerriere’s men seemed 
to be too well satisfied with their present condition, 
to attempt the dangers of a rebellion. They found 
the Yankees friendly, ready to meet them more 
than half way; and very soon they were chumming 
together, exchanging tobacco and yarns, and all 
were upon the best of terms. The British sailors 
were assigned to some work on the ship, cleaning 
decks and brass-work; and were kept as busy as 
possible. John Heath found himself associated 
with some of the British powder-monkeys, and en¬ 
joyed the new experience, for he never had seen a 
British person before. 


ii6 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


The boys indulged in all sorts of tricks in getting 
acquainted. The differences of conditions were 
ignored, and personal comparisons engaged their 
attention. Trials of strength between the British 
and American boys generally resulted in the victory 
of the Yankee, because he was in better physical 
condition. 

About eleven o’clock the first cutter returned to 
the Constitution with the sailing master in charge, 
who reported that it would be impossible to tow the 
Guerriere, as was planned, because the hulk drifted 
badly, the steering gear being so out of order, and 
the hawser kept slipping. So there was no other 
way, but for the Constitution to stand by at a con¬ 
venient distance. 

At two bells in the morning watch, it being clear 
and the sea moderate, a sail was seen to windward, 
bearing about northwest. It kept in sight, and at 
2.20 o’clock seemed nearer, off the port beam, and 
still unidentified; so the frigate cleared for action, 
and after holding the men at the guns for about half 
an hour, the strange sail passed on about three 
o’clock, and disappeared southward. 

At seven that morning, August twentieth, the 
crew continued making repairs on the rigging and 
spars, getting up a new fore-topgallant mast and 
yard, in place of the damaged one; and otherwise 
making permanent the repairs of the night before. 

As the wreck continued to show that the leaks 
were gaining, and as she was settling in the water, 


FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 117 

it was decided to destroy her. Meanwhile every¬ 
thing that could be used was taken out of her, in¬ 
cluding the ship’s bell which was installed to take 
the place of the Constitution s bell, smashed in the 
action. At one P.M., Lieutenant Hoffman was 
directed to set her on fire, in the storerooms, in order 
to make the burning complete. 

As the smoke began to roll up out of the hatch¬ 
ways, the Constitution drew off to a safe distance, 
and hove to. Her decks were crowded with the 
crew, and the crew of the Guerriere, watching the 
mastless black hulk as it rolled on the swells, vomit¬ 
ing clouds of smoke at every opening in her decks. 
The most-concerned spectator was Captain Dacres, 
who stood by the quarter-deck taffrail, and gazed 
steadily at what was left of the splendid frigate of 
which he had been so proud. His officers, as well 
as the American officers, respected his feelings, and 
drew away, leaving him entirely alone. Occasion¬ 
ally he raised his uninjured arm, and his hand was 
seen to brush away a tear. What his thoughts were 
could be imagined, but all, friend and enemy, re¬ 
spected his manly grief at that trying moment. 

John was very much impressed by the general 
air of solemnity which spread over the frigate, 
while she lay on the waves waiting for the last of 
the British ship. The crew stood silent. “ It’s 
just like a funeral,” whispered one of the seamen. 

“ Lucky it ain’t our funeral,” replied the man 
next to him, “ you better be thankful that you’ve 


ii8 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


got a tight ship under your feet, after that cannon- 
fight we had—See, there!” and he pointed to a 
flash of flame and smoke from the side of the hulk, 
where a loaded cannon, heated by the fire around it, 
had fired its last shot. 

Then another gun went off with a roar; and others 
followed, their smoke lying close to the water, for 
the gun-deck was barely awash. The next moment 
a cloud of smoke went up; black above the white 
cannon smoke, as the fire reached something very 
inflammable. 

It was now a few minutes after three o’clock, and 
the fire could be seen glowing through the portholes. 
Then, suddenly, a more brilliant light seemed to 
stream through the whole ship, flashing out of shat¬ 
tered sides, and with a tremendous crash, as the fire 
exploded the magazine, the quarter-deck in one 
piece rose into the air, split, and scattered in all 
directions, and fell into the sea. The hull, torn 
by the explosion, broke apart, and each section 
plunged down. Only a few shattered pieces of the 
deck and bulwarks were left floating to mark where 
one of the smart frigates of the British Navy had 
gone to the ocean’s bottom. 

The United States of America frigate Constitu¬ 
tion was again alone on the sea. 

“ Boatswain,” called the officer of the deck, 
“ Pipe all hands, make sail. Topmen, aloft; loose 
topgallants and royals, clear away the flying jib! ” 

The lieutenant’s order was followed by the boat- 







The Most Concerned Spectator was Captain 

Dacres. Page ny . 




FIGHTING THE “GUERRIERE” 119 

swain’s whistle, and in a few seconds the gaskets 
were off, and the sails were fluttering from the yards. 
In another minute, sheets were home, sails hoisted 
and yards trimmed, and “ Old Ironsides ” was 
moving away from the scene of destruction, as if she 
felt a new energy, and the responsibility of bearing 
home the news and evidences of her victory, and her 
country’s honored flag. 

Only for a short time did the frigate carry this 
press of sail. Captain Hull desired to divert the 
thoughts of crew and prisoners by quickly leaving 
the scene of the sinking of the Guerriere. Then 
sail was shortened, to cruising trim, and the frigate 
plowed steadily westward. 

Captain Hull was anxious to be relieved of the 
burden of the prisoners-of-war, their presence 
making it difficult, if not impossible to engage an¬ 
other vessel in battle; so he laid his course west¬ 
ward, to make Boston, if possible, without en¬ 
countering another enemy ship. 

For the next eight days the frigate jogged along 
on her homeward course, and without incident the 
Constitution neared the New England coast. 

It was a rare experience for the people on board 
the frigate. The presence of the British officers 
and men had an influence on the Americans. The 
whole ship’s company seemed to be to perform their 
duties smartly, in order to show the British that 
the Constitution was officered and manned by a 
crew that knew their business. Never before was 


120 A SON OF <( 0LD IRONSIDES” 


shown such zeal to excel. Besides the changing of 
the sails as the winds required, the usual drills at the 
guns were held, and the British prisoners were 
amazed at the skilful way in which the cannon and 
carronades were served. Officers and men, who 
were permitted to see these drills, were heard to 
say to one another that they never saw such dis¬ 
cipline on their ships; and that it was no wonder 
that the Guerriere was so shot to pieces. 

“ You said, Captain Hull,” said Captain Dacres, 
as he watched a gun drill, “ you had only ‘ green 
bushwhackers ’ for a crew. They did not show it 
in the engagement; and now I have seen them from 
this side, I hope none of our frigates will encounter 
‘ trained ’ seamen, for if so, there will be nothing 
left.” 

Captain Hull laughed, and replied, “ Men 
always fight well when they have no noose around 
their necks. All these men are volunteers. We 
don’t have to impress our crews.” 

Sunday morning, August thirtieth, the masthead 
lookout called, “ Land ho! ” and before long the 
white tower of Boston Light was in sight. 

The watch shortened sail, and the frigate worked 
carefully up the ship-channel, to the lower harbor, 
and there came to anchor. A boat was sent to the 
city, and by the time it reached Long Wharf, a 
crowd had gathered, for the frigate had been seen 
coming in, with all her flags flying at the mastheads, 
which indicated victory. 


CHAPTER VII 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 

It was Captain Hull’s intention to make the up¬ 
per harbor in the forenoon, but early in the morning 
the watch on deck had seen sails of several vessels 
in the offing, and the officer of the deck was so dis¬ 
turbed over the sight that he took the risk of waking 
Captain Hull, and told him that a number of ves¬ 
sels, which appeared to be warships, were in sight. 

Captain Hull jumped from his bed, and was on 
deck in a few minutes. 

“ Call all hands, Mr. Shubrick,” he said. 
“ Make sail, and get up the anchor, and let us be out 
of here as quick as we can. I do not purpose to be 
caught like a rat here.” 

The officer of the deck gave the necessary orders, 
and the whistles of the boatswains were soon sound¬ 
ing through the frigate. In a few minutes the crew, 
with their hammocks lashed, came up the com¬ 
panion ladders, and stored the hammocks in the 
nettings. There was considerable grumbling in 
low tones at being turned out so early and suddenly 
when in harbor. 

“ What’s to pay? ” asked Sam Hadlock. 


121 


122 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES " 


“ Can’t you see, or hain’t you got your eyes dug 
out yet? ” answered Pete Bradley, “ There’s a fleet 
of warships in the offin’, and I’ll bet the Old Man 
intends to fight ’em.” 

“ Right enough,” said Jack Ford, “There goes 
the order,” as “All hands unmoor ship, ahoy!” 
called the boatswains, and the usual routine was 
gone through, until the anchor was apeak, and the 
command, “Top-men, aloft!” had sent the men 
up the shrouds to the tops. Then followed quickly, 
“ Man topsail yards. Stretch along the topsail 
sheets. Let go topsails,” and the sails were rippling 
down from the yards, in great white billows. 
“ Reef tackles, buntlines, and clue-lines, foot the 
sails out of the tops, haul home topsail sheets, man 
topsail halliards; quartermasters and bo’sn’s-mates 
attend the braces; hoist away the topsails, belay 
halliards, trim the sails.” 

Then came, “ Heave up the anchor and stow it! ” 
as the frigate felt the wind fill the sails, and gathered 
headway. 

Back again into the main channel the frigate 
headed; and then came the call to general quarters. 
The crew rushed to the guns, taking their stations, 
and in a few minutes both batteries were ready for 
the command to load. 

Captain Hull watched carefully the distant ships 
which were headed toward Boston harbor. No 
matter if it was a squadron of British vessels, he’d 
have a look at them; perhaps throw a few shot at 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 123 

them, bear up and get away from them as he had 
done before. 

The men stood and sat at the guns, and nothing 
was said except in whispers. The officers stood at 
their stations with the sections watching the gun¬ 
crews. Everybody was alert, but waiting to spring 
with the orders 

“ Old Ironsides,” with colors at all mastheads, 
plowed steadily eastward, toward the possible 
enemy. The officers on the spar deck watched 
through their spyglasses, and suddenly lieutenant 
Morris exclaimed, “ I see their flags. They are 
American ships! ” 

“What!” cried Captain Hull, “Then it’s 
Rodgers’s squadron, coming back! I’ll tell him 
how near he came to having to fight and surrender to 
the Constitution,” and the captain laughed at the 
fortunate ending of what promised for a time to be 
serious. 

Signal flags were then seen on the foremost ship, 
and the frigate’s signal-officer read them to tell it 
was Commodore Rodgers returning from a cruise. 

The Constitution answered with her private 
signal; and then the frigate was brought about to 
run back to Boston. 

“ As soon as we are back at the anchorage, give 
the men their breakfast, Mr. Shubrick,” said 
Captain Hull, as he went below to finish his morn¬ 
ing nap. 

As the frigate made her way back to her former 


124 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

anchorage, the crew watched with much interest 
the distant squadron, which was coming in, and 
they commented on the vessels as they held their 
positions in the column. The frigate President, 
44 guns, Captain Rodgers, was the flag-ship and she 
led the column. The wind was light, and so she 
had all sail set to catch the breeze, and made a grace¬ 
ful appearance as she rode over the waves, the white 
water curling from her forefoot. 

Next in the column was the frigate United States, 

44 g un S‘ 

“ There’s the ‘ Old Wagon ’! ” exclaimed one of 
the Constitution s men. “ See how she lumbers 
along. See how she slams into the waves. I’ll bet 
ye, she’s a wet ship forward! ” 

No one accepted the bet, so the sailor continued 
to discuss the others. 

“ There’s the Congress, she’s smaller. Don’t 
carry but thirty-six guns, but she’s a neat sailer; 
just see her put her pretty feet down, and pick ’em 
up again. With such ships as them three, the 
commodore ought to be able to ketch anything, fast 
ones or slow ones.” 

Two smaller vessels: sloops-of-war, the Hornet 
of 18 guns, and the brig Argus of 18 guns com¬ 
pleted the squadron. The light vessels kept up 
well, and the on-coming squadron made a beautiful 
picture; the white sails with the flags at the mast¬ 
heads, against a clear blue sky stood out boldly, and 
the dark hulls on the green water, with the foaming 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


125 

waves at their bows, made the whole picture color¬ 
ful. The squadron came on steadily, and proudly; 
but, as was later learned, from a fruitless search for 
British warships. These vessels had sailed from 
New York, June twenty-first, and now on August 
thirty-first they were returning in disappointment. 
A second cruise had better results. 

The Constitution reached her former position, 
and reanchored. The day was spoiled for what 
was intended, for Captain Hull had planned to go 
farther up in the harbor. 

Tuesday morning, however, everything was in 
activity on board the frigate, as Captain Hull 
wanted to end his voyage in the upper harbor, off the 
city wharves, and land formally. He wished to 
file his report as soon as possible, sending it by post 
to Washington. He also intended to turn over the 
frigate to the ship-carpenters and riggers of the 
navy yard, and have her overhauled as quickly as 
possible, that she might return to service on the 
seas without further delay. 

About nine o’clock, or two bells, by the ship’s 
time, the tide and the wind favoring, Captain Hull 
ordered sail made and the anchor raised. 

No order was ever received with greater joy. 
The seamen went up the shrouds promptly, and 
lay out on the yards ready for the orders to make 
sail. With courses, topsails, and topgallant sails 
set, the noble frigate gained headway, and began 
to move up the channel toward the city. 


126 A SON OF (( OLD IRONSIDES” 


A flag was broken out at every masthead, and at 
the peak of the spanker. The flags were the same 
ones used in the engagement with the Guerriere, 
and bore the signs of British shot in some places. 

The crew were mustered in their best uniforms, of 
blue jacket, red vest, white trousers, and black 
straw hat, with Constitution on the band. Even 
the British prisoners were mustered and dressed as 
well as possible. They were to appear like worthy 
enemies, an evidence of a fierce but creditable en¬ 
gagement. 

The voyage up the harbor was a triumph. Every 
vessel in the stream and at the wharves was gay with 
flags. Flags were flying from buildings in the 
city, and from the State House, which topped 
Beacon Hill. The forts fired salutes. Bells were 
rung, and when an anchorage was reached not far 
from the ship-yard where the Constitution was built 
and launched in 1797, the anchors were let go, and 
the crew went aloft, furling all sails in smart fash¬ 
ion; the flags still waved above the masts, and the 
cannon muzzles showed from all ports. Then 
broadsides were fired from both batteries. “ Old 
Ironsides ” was home again, safe and sound, from 
her first battle of the war, with a new, well-deserved 
name. 

The boats were manned by the seamen, and Cap¬ 
tain Hull and his officers took their places in the 
first cutter. A marine guard was in the second 
cutter. With a smart stroke on the oars, the two 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


127 

boats went steadily toward the wharf, while the 
ship’s band played lively airs from the frigate’s 
deck. 

A noisy and excited crowd thronged the wharf, 

occupying every possible vantage point. The 

\ 

street along the water-front was crowded, and an 
impressive military parade awaited the conquering 
hero. 

When the boats drew in to the landing, the crowds 
cheered loudly and long. For several minutes the 
people expressed their greeting with all the sound 
they could produce. Flags were waved. Hats 
were tossed in the air. Women waved their 
handkerchiefs, and every one displayed all pos¬ 
sible enthusiasm at the arrival of the frigate’s com¬ 
mander, who had accomplished such an unexpected 
and wonderful feat. 

As Captain Hull stepped from the boat to the 
landing, he was greeted by the Governor of the 
State, Mr. William Phillips, and by the representa¬ 
tive of the Selectmen of Boston, Mr. Charles Bul- 
finch, the eminent architect of many of Boston’s 
noted buildings; and by them he was escorted to the 
carriage which was waiting. 

In the festival hall, tables had been set to the 
capacity of the room, and they were filled by the 
prominent citizens, and officers of the military and 
naval forces in the city. Captain Hull and his 
officers were received in “ true republican style,” 
and toasts and speeches made the event an occasion 


128 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES " 


such as had not before greeted a man of the period. 

This welcome to Captain Hull and his victorious 
ship and crew was more impressive and enthusiastic, 
because he had brought a great and pleasing 
surprise at a time of discouragement. A great loss 
had occurred on the western frontier. Detroit had 
been surrendered to the British without a struggle, 
not a shot having been fired in defence. Fort Dear¬ 
born, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, had 
been captured by the Indian allies of the British, 
and its garrison massacred. The Canadian forces 
seemed liable to carry the war to United States soil, 
with every possibility of success. 

But here came Captain Isaac Hull and the Con¬ 
stitution, sailing from the mysterious ocean, with 
the crew of a British frigate as prisoners, because 
their ship had been completely wrecked by the 
cannon-fire of the Constitution . It was a most 
welcome surprise, for the country had not expected 
anything from the navy. 

Furthermore, Captain Hull by his success had 
redeemed the family reputation, for it was his 
uncle, General William Hull, who had surrendered 
Detroit; so the reception was the more enthusiastic 
and hearty. 

Meanwhile, the crew of the frigate continued on 
board. They could only look over the bulwarks 
at Boston, which was entertaining their com¬ 
mander; for shore-liberty was impossible at that 
time, since the British prisoners were on board, 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 129 

and must be guarded, although there was little 
real danger of any attempt at an insurrection. 

A few days later, after the reception to Captain 
Hull and his officers, which was a banquet in 
Faneuil Hall, where the venerable ex-president of 
the United States, John Adams, presided, the crew 
were permitted to go ashore, as the British prisoners 
had been paroled to a vessel which took them to 
Halifax. 

It had been just a month since John Heath had 
walked the streets of Boston, a homeless, friendless 
boy. Now, in the uniform of a young sailor of a 
victorious ship, he found it a different city from 
what it seemed when he left it. 

In company with another lad, and having some 
money in their pockets, the two boys rambled about 
the city, attracting much attention, because people 
knew to what ship they belonged. 

They were walking up State Street, a street that 
led directly from the water front into the business 
part of the city, when they were stopped by a gentle¬ 
man of prosperous appearance, and as their ship 
was then the chief topic of conversation, he said, 
pleasantly: “ Well, my lads, I presume you are from 
the frigate Constitution, are you not? ” 

“ Yes, sir. We belong to her.” 

“ Then you were in the battle with the Guer- 
riere? ” 

“ Yes, sir. We are powder-boys, and we did our 
part.” 


1 3 o A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

“ I presume you did. It was a remarkable ex¬ 
perience, for such lads as you. Were you not 
afraid? ” 

“ Oh, no, sir. Nobody on the Constitution was 
afraid.” 

“ Why, I should imagine that a crew of a ship, 
all alone on the ocean, about to engage in battle with 
another ship, would be afraid they might be either 
killed or wounded, or if defeated, be taken prisoners 
to England.” 

“ No, sir,” replied John, “ No one felt that way. 
We knew we should beat.” 

“ 1 Knew you should beat ’,” exclaimed the 
gentleman, “ That is surprising! How did you 
know that, pray? ” 

“ Why, everybody knew Captain Hull expected 
to beat the British ship; so of course we knew that 
he was right. He always is right.” 

“ Then Captain Hull is a good captain? ” 

“ He’s been good to us, and if he wants his crew 
to beat another ship, they’re goin’ to do it,” was the 
hearty answer. 

“ That’s a splendid way to feel, my lads,” ex¬ 
claimed their new acquaintance, smiling at the 
boys’ enthusiasm, “Now, young gentlemen; for 
boys who have done what you have are quite men; 
will you allow me to make you a present, as a token 
of my respect and admiration for two such brave 
and honest young Americans? Please step into 
this shop with me,” and so saying, he led the boys 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


* 3 * 

into a store, where he asked the clerk to show the 
boys the best jackknives he had. 

The clerk opened a showcase, and took out two 
large and handsome knives, having several blades, 
and showed them to the boys. He also offered some 
others, but the boys were pleased with the first ones, 
and their friend asked if they liked them. 

“ Yes, sir; we do, very much,” replied both the 
boys. 

“ Very well, they are yours,” and paying the clerk 
for the knives, he added, “ I am very glad to have 
met you, young gentlemen, and to know that our 
navy has such fine young sailors, who love their 
captain and their ship.” . 

Then he shook hands with the boys, and they re¬ 
turned to the street, bidding their generous friend, 
good day. 

“ Say, weren’t we lucky! ” said John to his com¬ 
panion. “ I never had a knife before, and ain’t 
this a beauty? ” 

The knives were very much alike, and the other 
boy was as delighted as John, with his present. 

Then they continued their stroll up State Street, 
stopping to look at the Old State House, where the 
British Lion and Unicorn were represented, one 
on each side of the gable. 

“ What’s them animals? ” asked John. 

“ I don’t know,” replied his companion, “ I never 
saw anything like ’em before; and yet, I think I saw 
something like ’em, on something them British 


132 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

prisoners had. I’ll bet they’re British animals! 
What do us Americans have such things on a house, 
for? We ain’t British.” 

“No,” replied John, “They oughtn’t to be 
there.” 

Then the boys went on, paying little attention to 
the people, who stopped to look at them. 

Sunday morning, September sixth, the crew of 
the frigate were mustered on deck about io o’clock. 
All were in clean uniforms. The ship’s officers 
were in full-dress, and the Marines were paraded 
under arms, in all the splendor of their own full- 
dress uniform. The ship’s company crowded the 
deck, as Captain Hull came up the companionway 
from his cabin. 

He stepped to the wheel, and as the crew became 
silent, he addressed them: 

“ Officers and men of the frigate Constitution. 
We have completed a voyage of great importance to 
our country; of honor to this ship, and with credit 
to ourselves, for the result of the engagement with 
the Guerriere has brought great happiness to the 
people of this nation. Great honors have been 
paid us, and we should feel proud that we are 
American sailors. 

“ It is necessary that the frigate should be over¬ 
hauled, before she is fit to go to sea again, which I 
hope may be soon. The crew will go aboard the 
receiving-ship, and will receive their prize-money. 
Those whose term of service has expired will be 
discharged. 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


r 33 

“ I find, since I came to this harbor, that family 
matters requiring my immediate attention will pre¬ 
vent my taking the frigate out again-” 

At this statement an audible murmur ran through 
the ship’s company. Men shook their heads, and 
expressions of regret showed on their faces. Cap¬ 
tain Hull continued: 

“ You need not be told how I regret this change. 
I have received such hearty support and obedience 
from you, which has made possible our great 
victory, that I should be ungrateful if I did not tell 
you that I feel worse over this break than you; but 
I am assured that you will continue to serve on this 
frigate, and under a very able and just commander, 
who I have no doubt will give a good account of this 
ship, as soon as she is again on deep water. I ask 
that you give to my successor and his officers as 
hearty support as you have given me; and I com¬ 
mend you to the care of Almighty God, who has 
not overlooked us, so far.” 

As soon as the captain closed his brief address, 
the evidences of the regret of the crew became more 
pronounced and more open. 

“ Don’t leave us, Captain! ” a voice was heard 
to say from the mass of men. “ God bless you, 
Captain; you’ve treated us right!” said another. 
Then some one called for three cheers for Captain 
Hull, and the response almost shook the ship. 

Captain Hull raised his hat as the cheering 
stopped, and turned and went below. Evidently it 



134 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 

was a sad experience for him, and for the crew, who 
had made the frigate so efficient in every way. 

The crew was then piped down, and the routine 
of a Sunday continued. 

Naturally John shared in the regret of the crew 
at Captain Hull’s leaving so suddenly. He had 
intended to stay with the ship if he could. He had 
found the life so interesting and exciting that he 
wanted to stay and grow up to be an able seaman. 
He had even dreamed a little of perhaps being a 
midshipman, instead of a seaman, and so becoming 
an officer; but just now, that seemed a long way off. 
The first thing to find out was if he could stay with 
the ship. 

As soon as he could, John got hold of Sam Bunt¬ 
ing, the old quartermaster. 

“ I say, Mr. Bunting,” began John, “ can you tell 
us what we are going to do now, after Captain Hull 
leaves us? ” 

“ Why, my lad, I suppose we shall pull into the 
Navy Yard, where the ship can be put in order for 
another cruise, by the heave-’em-tauts, and the crew 
will go to the guard-ship, until our time runs out, or 
we are sent aboard another ship. Why d’ye ask? ” 

“ Because, sir, I want to stay with the ship. I 
want to go on the next cruise,” replied John. 

“ I guess we’ll all get a chance. There ain’t got 
to be much done to the ship, and I guess some one 
will want to go out in her, and see if he can do as 
well as Captain Hull. I’m sure no one could do 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


*35 

better. I guess, boy, we’ll all go next cruise,” said 
the quartermaster cheerfully. 

“ I hope so,” said John, “ for I like being a sailor. 
I’ve lots of good times on the last cruise; and wa’n’t 
that fight a good one? I’d like to be in another just 
like it! ” and John’s eyes sparkled as he said this. 
He clenched his fists and stood straight. 

“ You’re an awful fire eater, ain’t ye, boy,” said 
the good-natured quartermaster, patting John on 
the shoulder. “ Well, ye did well in that fight, and 
I guess ye’d do better next time. We ought to have 
more such boys as you.” 

“ Can you do anything to help me get on the 
ship again, for the next cruise?” asked John, 
eagerly. 

“ Don’t know. I did not have much to do with 
shipping the last crew, but perhaps I can say a good 
word for you, to somebody—providing they want 
me.” 

“ Course they’ll want you, Mr. Bunting,” ex¬ 
claimed John, loyally. 

“ I’ll try and look out for ye, lad,” was the reply. 

The next day the frigate’s anchor was raised, and 
the Navy Yard boats towed her to a new anchorage 
nearer to the Yard; the crew were mustered, with 
their bags, to be transferred to the guard-ship, the 
old Boston, which was no longer fit to go to sea. 

It was a busy day on board “Old Ironsides,” 
Captain Hull supervised the mustering of the crew, 
and saw them over-side, into the boats, which ran 


136 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

back and forth until all the crew and their property 
were transferred to the Boston. Then the flag was 
lowered, and Captain Hull and his officers entered 
a boat, and were rowed to the yard. The late crew 
of the Constitution were all on the deck of the 
Boston, and as their beloved commander went 
ashore, they cheered and cheered until he was out 

of sight. Then they proceeded to their stations on 

* 

the guard-ship, which was to be their home until 
some good fortune should restore them to the blessed 
old frigate, out there, now empty, lonely. 

“ She’s a beautiful ship, isn’t she? ” remarked 
Tom Byron, the fifer of the marines, “ Many’s the 
good time I’ve seen aboard of her.” 

“ I’m in hopes they’ll get her fore-an’-fit soon. 
I want to get back in her,” said gunner Andrew 
Peterson. “ This war ain’t mor’n begun, and we 
ought to have some more to do with it. Us fellows 
is pretty tough, and I reckon we could tie another 
knot in the lion’s tail if we got a chance.” 

“ Right you are, Andy! Let us hope we get 
aboard again,” and the two earnest shipmates went 
below to take a nap in their hammocks. 

Much to the satisfaction of the Constitution 
men, on the Boston, they observed great activity 
around the frigate. Boats were going back and 
forth constantly, between the yard and the ship. 
One day they noticed that the wounded mast was 
being removed; and the next day a new one was 
put in its place, and the rigging put over the top 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


i 37 

in quick time. After that, the re-rigging was ac¬ 
complished rapidly. 

While the guard-ship had a number of men 
aboard who had not been assigned to any ship, re¬ 
cruits were coming in occasionally. The arrival 
of the Constitution had aroused more interest in 
the war on the ocean, and in a few days after the 
frigate came up into the upper harbor, more men 
and boys were applying to enlist. 

Each day saw the number of recruits increasing; 
and before long there were enough men and boys to 
take the places of those whose time had expired and 
who were not shipping again; and the guard-ship 
had a full crew waiting to be put on board the frig¬ 
ate as soon as she was ready to take on her stores 
and ammunition supply. 

Among the new recruits was a boy who attracted 
John’s attention. He was a good-looking, sturdy 
chap. His face was round, and with a pleasant 
expression. His eyes were dark and bright. His 
nose was long, but not prominent. In every way, 
he seemed to be a lad of good qualities. 

This boy had been shipped, and was provided 
with a uniform and kit-bag; and as he gathered 
the various articles together, he looked about as 
if he did not know where to go with them. 

“ Here, boy!” called a quartermaster to John 
Heath, “ Take this boy below, and show him how to 
hang his hammock, and store his stuff.” 

The new boy turned and looked at John as he 


138 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

came up to help him with his property, but said 
nothing. So John said to him: 

“ Come on, youngster, (he was almost as large as 
John, but John presumed on his experience to be a 
little superior) follow me,” and down they went 
to the berth deck. There was a vacant space near 
where John’s hammock hung, so he led the boy 
there, to be near him. 

“ What’s your name? ” asked John. 

“ John Benyon,” replied the new boy. 

“ My name’s ‘ John ’, too; ‘ John Heath ’. I’ve 
been aboard the Constitution since she started from 
Boston, in June. I’ve had a good time; and I guess 
you’ll like it, too. Here; I’ll show you how to 
hang your hammock, and get into it.” Then the 
two boys were busy for some time. John Heath 
initiated John Benyon into the mystery and art of 
getting into a hammock, without getting out of the 
other side faster than he climbed into it. After a 
few trials, during which practice John Benyon had 
the usual experience of a greenhorn, of falling under 
and jumping over, he mastered the hammock, and 
never failed to get into it safely. 

The two boys laughed a good deal over John 
Benyon’s efforts; and he, being a good-natured lad, 
was not offended at John Heath’s amusement; and 
they were the better acquainted therefor. 

John Heath, having showed John Benyon all the 
ways for taking care of his property, and seeing him 
dressed in his new sailor clothes, took him about 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


139 

the ship, telling him the names of the various 
places and parts, which are the same on all warships 
of two decks or more. Then they went on deck, 
and stood on the topgallant forecastle, and watched 
the scene in the harbor. The wharves of the city 
were crowded with shipping, and there were many 
vessels—ships, brigs, and schooners anchored in the 
stream. The presence of British men-of-war off 
the coast had driven many of these vessels into har¬ 
bor for safety. 

John Heath pointed out the frigate Constitution, 
to John Benyon saying, “ There’s the best ship in 
the world. She’s the only real happy home I ever 
had, and I want to stay on her all my life. I had 
an awful good time last cruise, and I’m crazy to 
get back on board.” 

“ I suppose I’m going to be a ‘ powder-boy too,” 
said John Benyon, “but I don’t know what that 
means. What does it? ” 

“ I’m a powder-boy,” replied John Heath, “ and 
it’s a good job. You have to work hard in battle, 
though,” and then he went on to describe what a 
powder-boy was supposed to do. 

From the guard-ship the Constitution men 
watched closely the movements of the shipwrights 
and riggers, as they worked on the frigate, and saw 
how rapidly she was being put in condition for an¬ 
other cruise. It was very evident that the frigate 
was to sail again as soon as she was ready, for light¬ 
ers were being towed back and forth between the 


140 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

Yard and the ship, carrying out loads of supplies 
of all kinds. The men speculated as to what might 
happen; when she would go out, and where, though 
no one knew anything about it. 

u I reckon the old ship’s goin’ to see foreign serv¬ 
ice, from the stores of provisions I’ve seen goin’ 
out,” said Ben Flyblock to Tom Winch. “ She’ll 
go out cruising by herself, just as she did before. 
She’s a whole navy by herself, and don’t need no 
squadron trailin’ at her stern.” 

“ I don’t know and I don’t care where she goes, 
Ben,” replied Tom, “ so long as me and my ham¬ 
mock goes aboard of her. I’ll bet ye, she’ll find 
another Britisher before she comes back, and of 
course, she’ll wallop her the way she done the 
Guerrer.” 

It was only a few days after this that the Con¬ 
stitution men on the guard-ship were mustered 
to go on board the frigate. Every man who came 
off “ Old Ironsides ” was ready to go back; even 
some time-expired men had re-shipped, in order 
to go again. A goodly sum of prize-money had 
been divided among them, and they hoped for more 
such luck. 

The forenoon of September fourteenth saw the 
prospective crew on board the old ship. Lieutenant 
George Parker was in command. The frigate was 
as she was left by the repair-crew, and was in great 
disorder, and very dirty; so as soon as the crew were 
assigned to watches, the work of cleaning-up ship 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 141 

was begun, and was kept up by both watches, until 
late at night, and commenced the next morning. 
By eight bells in the afternoon watch, the frigate 
looked more like herself. The crew was piped 
down, and ordered to clean themselves for muster. 
At two bells, the crew was mustered by Lieutenant 
Parker, and a boat came to the gangway bringing 
Captain William Bainbridge. He was received 
with all possible formality, without a marine guard, 
which had not come aboard at that time. He was at¬ 
tended by most of the officers who had served on the 
last cruise. 

Captain Bainbridge read his commission, as 
commander of the frigate, and spoke to the crew, 
telling them they all must maintain the honor the 
frigate had recently won. The flag was then raised 
and saluted, and then the captain directed Lieuten¬ 
ant Parker to pipe the men to grog and to supper. 
“ Old Ironsides ” was in commission again. 

Captain Bainbridge and his officers inspected the 
frigate; and the lieutenants and other officers were 
assigned their quarters in the wardroom. Then 
Captain Bainbridge left the ship for the night, with 
Lieutenant Alwin, his aide. 

John Heath and John Benyon had their ham¬ 
mocks slung side by side on the berth-deck, which 
was very satisfactory to them both. John Heath 
was perfectly happy to be back “ home again,” as he 
said, and he knew that for the near future there 
would be no further change. So far as the possi- 


142 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

bilities of battle were concerned, he had no anxiety 
nor fear. 

Inasmuch as John Heath and John Benyon had 
become such friends and were together a great deal, 
John Heath having contrived to have his chum as¬ 
signed to the next guns to those he tended, other 
members of the crew, and the gun-crews especially, 
were interested in the boys’ friendship, and called 
them “ the Scripture Twins,” “ First John and 
Second John and it was not uncommon to hear 
them referred to by some member of the crew, as, 
“ Those Bible Boys.” 

“ If them fellows don’t show up soon, I’ll make 
’em repeat some verses; blast their eyes!” might 
have been heard, at times, from a quartermaster. 

“ Them ‘ Scripture Twins ’; One-eyed and Two- 
eyed Johns, are gettin’ as thick as fog on the Banks,” 
remarked a sailor, seeing the two boys together. 

During the several days while Captain Bain- 
bridge remained on shore, Lieutenant Parker con¬ 
tinued in command of the frigate. The time was 
profitably spent in organizing the crew which in¬ 
cluded about one-third new men. While the most 
of these men were from the merchant ships, which 
were laid up, in their home ports, fearing to go to 
sea in the face of the British blockading ships, quite 
a number were men who never had been on board 
a ship, and so had no nautical experience, having 
come from farms and industries which were affected 
by the war. These men required much training 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


H3 

to get them accustomed to their unusual duties; 
doing this kept the officers and men who were ex¬ 
perienced seamen quite busy. But they kept at the 
work, teaching the greenhorns until they stopped 
speaking of “ going downstairs,” when they went 
below; or calling the spar-deck “ the roof.” With 
so many teachers trying to make them learn; and so 
many who were ready to poke fun at their blunders, 
the recruits gained rapidly, and were commended 
by the old salts. 

John Heath had his part to do in teaching some 
of the new boys, and especially John Benyon, but 
he was particularly anxious to learn, and was ask¬ 
ing questions constantly. 

An instance of this was when he asked John 
Heath, what the words, “ starboard ” and “ lar¬ 
board ” meant. He had heard them used a great 
deal and he had learned which side each word 
meant, but he did not understand the reason for the 
words. 

“ I’ll tell you all I know about it,” said John 
Heath. 

“ Lieutenant Morgan gave us some lessons, on 
the last cruise. He said the word ‘ starboard ’ 
meant ‘ steerboard ’; and ‘board’ meant ‘side.’ 
So it was ‘ steer-side ’, because in the old times they 
steered their ships with a big oar on the right side 
of the stern. 

“ ‘ Board ’ was ‘ side ’, because the sides of the 
ships were made of boards, and so anything went 


i 4 4 A SON OF (< OLD IRONSIDES” 

1 overboard ’ when it went over the ‘ side ’ of the 
ship. That’s easy, ain’t it? ” 

“ Yes,” replied Benyon, “ but how did they call 
the left-hand side of a ship the ‘ larboard ’ side? ” 
“ Lieutenant Morgan said, that was because when 
they steered with an oar on the right-hand side, in 
the old times, if they wanted to load a ship, they had 
to run her up to the wharf so the left side would be 
against it, as it would be hard to work her in by the 
starboard side. So when a ship was to be loaded, 
the left-hand side was the ‘ load ’ side, or c lade ’ as 
they called it. So they called it the ‘ladeboard 
and it was easier to say ‘ larboard ’ and they got 
in the habit of saying it that way. So the two sides 
of a ship were ‘ steerboard ’ and ‘ ladeboard \ Can 
ye remember that, d’ye think?” 

“ I guess so, since you’ve made it so plain,” said 
Benyon, “ but there’s lots to learn, ain’t they? ” 

“ I guess there is,” replied John Heath, “ Why, I 
learn something new every day. But I like it, the 
more I learn.” 

When the watches were off duty, the seamen 
talked a good deal about the new commander. The 
watch officers were the same ones who were on the 
last voyage, with the exception of Lieutenant Read; 
but the captain was the man of chief interest. Some 
had heard of him before, as being a very efficient 
officer; a good sailor, and a man not in the least 
afraid of a fight. So as the seaman sat together in 
little groups, spinning yarns, those who knew any- 


IN BOSTON HARBOR 


H5 

thing about Captain Bainbridge were given close 
attention. 

Captain Bainbridge had been in the War with 
the Barbary States, in 1803, and was commanding 
the frigate Philadelphia when she ran aground and 
was captured off the harbor of Tripoli. He and 
his crew were in prison there for a long time, until 
the United States ships taught the Tripolitans that 
it was best to let the American merchant ships alone, 
by fighting them in their city and on the sea. 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 

The Constitution had a long and uneventful 
voyage. As each day that passed saw no enemy ship 
in the offing, Captain Bainbridge felt he was losing 
time; so on November twelfth, sail was made south¬ 
ward. Several days passed, uneventfully, and on 
November twentieth, the Cape Verde Islands 
were reached, where a stop of five days was made, 
in the harbor of Porto Praya, where Captain 
Bainbridge had an idea that he might find Captain 
Porter with the Essex, as that port had been indi¬ 
cated as a place of meeting, should the Essex fail to 
connect with the Constitution while crossing the 
Atlantic. At this port, the Constitution lay well off 
the shore, while the Hornet ran in nearer the land; 
thus reversing the positions while the two vessels 
were at the Azores. In this way they guarded each 
other, and were able to enjoy the advantages of 
landing for necessities. 

The two ships having left Porto Praya, now 
headed southeasterly, back across the Atlantic, in 
hope of encountering some British cruisers, or of 
picking up any merchant vessels coming from In¬ 
dian ports, around the Cape of Good Hope; or ves- 

146 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 


H7 

sels in the China trade, coming around Cape Horn. 
Captain Bainbridge thought, that in beating 'across 
the narrow part of the Atlantic he would have the 
best opportunity of finding British vessels; so he 
headed for the South American coast, intending to 
call at Bahia, and see if the Essex had preceded him 
there. The two ships maintained about the same 
course, though at a distance apart, in order to cover 
more sea. The Constitution was in the lead, with 
a course south of that of the Hornet, and after sail¬ 
ing for several days without seeing a sail, on the 
forenoon of December first, the lookout at the mast¬ 
head was heard to cry out: 

“ On deck, there! ” 

“Masthead, what do you see?” called the of¬ 
ficer of the deck. 

“ A sail on the larboard bow, sir.” 

“ What is she? ” asked the lieutenant. 

“ Looks like a ship, sir,” replied the lookout. 

The lieutenant called a midshipman of the watch, 
and directed him to report to the captain, who was 
in his cabin, that a sail, apparently a ship, had been 
sighted, on the larboard bow. Then he went for¬ 
ward, to the foot of the bowsprit, where he could 
get a better view, and through his spyglass watched 
the strange sail. 

Presently the captain came on deck, and the lieu¬ 
tenant returned to the quarter-deck, and reported 
that the ship seemed to be holding a northeasterly 
course, and was making fair headway. 


148 a son OF u OLD IRONSIDES " 

Captain Bainbridge took the lieutenant’s glass, 
and sighted it on the distant vessel. 

“ From all appearances, Mr. Shubrick, I judge 
that vessel is an English ship, bound toward the 
African coast, or some of the islands, working 
toward England; and intending to avoid any 
American cruisers. I think we might as well upset 
the plans, and give the men a little amusement.” 
Then addressing the men at the wheel, he said: 

“ Quartermaster, starboard your helm, a little.” 

“ Starboard it is, sir,” replied the quartermaster, 
directing the men to change the course. 

In a few minutes, as the captain watched the 
change in the direction the frigate made, he said, 
again. “ Give her two points more, quartermaster,” 
then, as the ship responded, “ Steady, as you are.” 
The frigate continued to hold her course. 

The strange sail was several miles distant, and 
not yet had changed her course, either to meet the 
coming vessel, or to avoid it. 

The two vessels drew toward each other, and it 
was not until they were about two miles apart, that 
the stranger seemed to apprehend danger, for she 
edged away, from the course she was holding, mak¬ 
ing more to the eastward. When Captain Bain¬ 
bridge saw that manoeuver, he at once ordered the 
colors set at each masthead, and the course altered 
again, to make it possible for the Constitution to 
intercept the stranger. 

Presently the officers on the Constitution who 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 


149 

were watching the other vessel through their spy¬ 
glasses, reported that the British ensign could be 
distinguished. 

The distance between the two vessels was con¬ 
stantly growing less. It now was evident that the 
British vessel was an armed ship, apparently a sloop- 
of-war of fourteen or eighteen guns, judging by 
the ports which could be recognized, and although 
a much smaller vessel than the Constitution, Cap¬ 
tain Bainbridge did not propose to allow it to es¬ 
cape, and give intelligence of his whereabouts to 
other enemy ships. He preferred to pick them up 
one by one, rather than be chased into a corner by 
a squadron. He then directed the officer of the 
deck to have a shot fired across the bows of the 
British ship, and bring her into his power. 

The crew was called to quarters, while the Con¬ 
stitution had been running toward the stranger; and 
now the crew of the long eighteen-pounder on the 
forecastle was ordered to fire a shot across the bow 
of the enemy ship. 

“ Here goes a kiss, with the captain’s compli¬ 
ments,” said one of gun-crew, as they drew it to the 
port, and trained it on the other ship. 

“ Steady, there! ” cried the gun captain, “ You’ve 
got her pointed at the ship’s bow! ” 

“ Ain’t that near enough, George? ” said one of 
the crew, “ Where do you want to hit her? ” 

“We don’t mean to hit her anywhere, though we 
might want to. Slew her over. Steady. There. 


150 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

Make her fast,” and the gun was drawn close to the 
ringbolts by the tackles. 

“ All ready, sir,” said the gun captain. 

“Fire!” ordered the officer, and immediately 
the gun spit a cloud of smoke, around a flash of 
flame; and the cannon-ball went over the waves, 
falling a little beyond the British ship, its path 
across the bow being marked by the trail of broken 
water. 

That the British commander recognized the in¬ 
quiry and demand of that shot, was evident, for in 
a few minutes the sails began to be changed, and the 
ship lost headway. Meanwhile, “ Old Ironsides ” 
was plowing steadily toward the enemy, and as soon 
as she was in hailing distance, Captain Bainbridge, 
stepping up on a carronade, with the trumpet to 
his mouth, asked, “ What ship is that! ” 

There was no hesitation in answering. The size 
of the American frigate was so much greater than 
that of the British ship, that it would have been 
foolhardy for her commander to attempt to avoid 
the frigate, or to fire upon her, so the answer came 
back: 

“H is Britannic Majesty’s ship Boar Hound, 
Captain Huntington.” 

“ I demand your surrender. Send a boat aboard, 
at once,” replied Captain Bainbridge. 

It was very quiet on board the Constitution, while 
the two ships were drawing toward each other. 
Now the Constitution had followed the cannon- 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 151 

shot, and had taken a position directly ahead of the 
British ship; a position from which she could blow 
her out of the water with one broadside, if any at¬ 
tempt were made to escape or attack. Her sails 
were held flat, and the two vessels maintained the 
same relative position. Presently a boat was low¬ 
ered from the British ship, and her commander was 
seen to take his place in it. Then the crew dropped 
their oars into the water, and pulled to the Constitu¬ 
tion s side, where a ladder had been let down. 

The crews of the deck carronades were all at 
attention around the guns. A marine detail was 
drawn up before the gangway, and Captain Bain- 
bridge awaited the commander of the British ship, 
who came over the side, respectfully, but flushed 
with disappointment, and suppressed anger. 

“ By what authority do you demand me to come 
aboard this ship?” exclaimed the British officer, 
as soon as he reached the deck. 

“ Captain Bainbridge, with a stern expression 
on his face, replied, “ This is the United States frig¬ 
ate Constitution, Captain William Bainbridge, and 
before blowing you from the water, I gave you this 
opportunity to save yourself and crew. I demand 
your surrender, here and now! ” 

“ I recognize the fortunes of war, sir; and that it 
would be insanity to attempt to engage with this 
frigate, so I must accept the situation, and I hereby 
present my sword in surrender,” said the captain 
of the Boar Hound . 


152 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


“ Young man,” replied Captain Bainbridge, in a 
more agreeable tone of voice, “ You have acted with 
wisdom and discretion. It would, indeed have 
been foolhardy to attempt resistance. I commend 
your good sense, and I will not deprive you of your 
sword, for it need not be made a party to this trans¬ 
action. Return it to the sheath, and consider your¬ 
self my guest, while you and your crew and ship, are 
prisoners of war.” Then turning to the first lieu¬ 
tenant, he said, 

“ Lieutenant Parker, take immediate possession 
of that ship. Transfer the prisoners as quickly as 
possible, with their property. Remove such muni¬ 
tions and stores as you may consider desirable, and 
prepare the ship for immediate destruction.” 
Turning to the surrendered captain, Captain Bain¬ 
bridge, said, 

“ Come below, sir, and accept my somewhat 
limited hospitality.” And the two officers went 
down the companionway, to Captain Bainbridge’s 
cabin. 

Lieutenant Parker immediately took steps to se¬ 
cure the prisoners of the British ship. Retaining 
a number of gun-crews at the main battery, with 
guns trained on the Boar Hound, boats were dis¬ 
patched, with the officer attending the British cap¬ 
tain, to muster the crew, and remove them, with 
their personal property and hammocks, to the Con¬ 
stitution . At the same time, a quantity of provi¬ 
sions was removed, to provide for their subsistence, 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 


iS3 

without drawing on the frigate’s supplies. The 
small-arms: muskets, cutlasses, and pistols were 
gathered and removed. Lieutenant Parker ad¬ 
vised the captain, that two cannon might be desira¬ 
ble, to hold as emergency guns on the frigate, and 
they were slung over, into a boat, and raised to the 
deck of the frigate. Then he reported the ship 
cleared. 

As there was nothing further to be done, and the 
ships were too far from port to allow the prize to 
be used as a cartel; and it was not feasible to send 
her to the United States, without weakening the 
efficiency of the Constitution, Captain Bainbridge 
decided to burn the Boar Hound, at once. Ac¬ 
cordingly, Lieutenant Hoffman, who had been so 
efficient in disposing of the hulk of the Guerriere 
on the previous occasion, was assigned to the duty 
of firing and sinking the British ship. He at once 
went away, with a competent crew, and in a short 
time, returned, his departure being marked by 
clouds of black smoke pouring from the hatchways, 
and portholes of the doomed vessel. The Constitu¬ 
tion moved to a safe position, and the sinking of the 
Boar Hound, a trim little fourteen-gun sloop-of- 
war, was soon accomplished. Then the Constitu¬ 
tion resumed her course to the southwest. 

For several days the course was held steadily, 
without event or incident, and on December 7, ar¬ 
rived at Fernando de Noronha, off Cape St. Roque, 
Brazil, where Captain Bainbridge hoped he might 


154 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

yet connect with the Essex, as had been agreed, if the 
vessels failed to meet at Porto Praya. But no report 
of the Essex had been received. Here the Con¬ 
stitution waited a few days, until the Hornet 
rejoined, with no report of the Essex or of having 
encountered any enemy vessels. 

The two American cruisers, then resumed their 
voyage, southward, with the intention of calling 
at Bahia, Brazil for supplies and water. They 
cruised in sight of each other, and on December 
fourteenth arrived off the harbor of Bahia. The 
Constitution remaining outside while the Hornet 
reconnoitered the harbor and roads. 

For several days after the Constitution and 
Hornet arrived off Bahia, the two ships cruised 
about until they saw it was safe to approach closer 
to the harbor of the town. The Hornet ran in 
close, and saw a war vessel at anchor. A boat was 
sent in with a communication from Captain Bain- 
bridge to the American consul, who informed Cap¬ 
tain Lawrence of the Hornet, that the British sloop- 
of-war Bonne Citoyenne was in port, and she had a 
quantity of money on board to take to England. 

As the two vessels were about the same size and 
weight of armament, Captain Lawrence was very 
anxious to have a battle with the British vessel, and 
both he and Captain Bainbridge, sent word through 
the consul, to the commander of the Bonne Cito¬ 
yenne, that the Constitution would go away and not 
hinder a fair fight between the two vessels. 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 155 

But the commander of the British ship was care¬ 
ful, and declined an engagement; so in order to 
prove his willingness to keep out of an action, Cap¬ 
tain Bainbridge made sail on the eighteenth of De¬ 
cember, and ran out to sea, for more than forty miles, 
and was gone for four days; at the end of which time 
he ran back to Bahia, and found that nothing had 
happened. 

Again, in order to try to force an engagement, 
Captain Bainbridge sailed into the harbor of 
Bahia, leaving the Hornet on watch outside; but 
although the captain of the British ship could have 
had the Constitution held in the harbor for twenty- 
four hours, if he wanted to attack the Hornet, he 
did not take that opportunity. 

Since there was no prospect of any immediate 
engagement between the two vessels, Captain Bain¬ 
bridge decided that he could not waste any more 
time; so again he left Bahia, and sailed southward, 
to cruise in the track of the commerce from the 
southern seas, and left the Hornet to shift for her¬ 
self, which meant that she would remain off the 
harbor, watching the Bonne Citoyenne, in hope of 
engaging her when she came out. 

These days of beating up and down and across 
the routes of the merchant vessels while of no par¬ 
ticular interest, so far as variety of incident was 
concerned, were yet made important by the fre¬ 
quent drills of the crew, in almost every conceivable 
situation in which the frigate might be found in an 


156 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

action. The armament was thoroughly overhauled, 
and the gun-crews were engaged in an intense ri¬ 
valry to see which gun in the main-deck battery 
would be at the highest degree of efficiency. Trun¬ 
nions were greased; breechings overhauled and 
made safe and secure in the ringbolts; the train- 
tackle was made pliable, and the block-sheaves so 
lively that a strong pull would draw the tackle 
quickly. Every part of the gun was made ready 
to serve its purpose with speed and accuracy. 
Even the powder-boys entered into the spirit of 
competition, and raced each other between the gun 
and the magazine and back, bearing imaginary 
buckets of cartridges, to see who could accomplish 
the round trip in the shortest time. In this enter¬ 
prise John Heath strove with a determination to 
win and establish a record. One of the gun-crew 
would begin to count at the word, “ Go,” given by 
a gun captain, and the boys would jump from the 
deck-ring of the tackle, to the nearest gangway. 
It was valuable experience, and helped the boys to 
feel that they were factors in the success of a gun. 

It was the evening of the third day out, that Bill 
Sisson remarked to Moses Smith, as they were en¬ 
joying the pleasant weather on deck, after supper, 
“ I say, Mose’, if I remember rightly, you told 
about Captain Hull having a nose like a beagle, and 
being able to ‘ smell ’ a Britisher even when she was 
below the horizon.” 

“That’s a fact, Bill; Capt’n Ike certainly had 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 


i57 

a faculty of knowin’ when an enemy ship was 
around, before any one else had an idea of it. I 
told ye he smelt the Guerrer before we sighted 
her, and they laughed at me; but the very next day, 
thar she was, and we was all ready for her, just be¬ 
cause Capt’n Ike’s good nose had smelled her, long 
before any other officer or man expected any such 
ship.” 

“ Well, seems to me, Mose’,” said Sisson, “ If you 
was as smart a sailor as you pretend to be, you’d 
have learned how to ‘ smell ’ as well as Capt’n Hull. 
What’s the matter with ye? ” 

“ Nothin’s the matter with me, nor with my nose, 
neither; if any one on board this here frigate can 
smell better’n I can, I’m ready to go down in the 
hold, and see who can tell the most smells. I de¬ 
clare, I guess I can smell what’s on the sea, too.” 
Then Moses went to an open port on the windward 
side, and drew in long breaths of the fresh air. 
Having exercised his lungs this way for several 
breaths he returned to the group which had gath¬ 
ered, and remarked very soberly, 

“ I am satisfied that my nose is in good order, for 
I am sure / can smell a Britisher, and if we don’t run 
into one before long, I’ll fill my nostrils with slush 
till they larn how to smell.” 

With that declaration, Moses turned away from 
his laughing and jeering companions, and went be¬ 
low to his hammock. 

Morning came on December 29, with the boat- 


158 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

swain piping all hands on deck, before they had 
been called to breakfast. As the men ran up the 
companion ladders with their hammocks lashed 
for stowing, they grumbled at being turned up in 
such an early and unceremonious manner. “ This 
is no way to begin a day in the Christmas season,” 
remarked Bill Swipes, “ I ain’t caught up my sleep 
after the sarvices.” 

Some time before this the masthead lookout had 
reported to the deck the sail in sight. The wind 
was light from the eastward, when the lookout 
hailed. 

“ Where away? ” called the officer of the deck. 

“ Broad on the weather bow, sir. Two of them.” 

This information when reported to Captain Bain- 
bridge brought him on deck quickly. He watched 
the frigate’s movement for a minute or two, then 
he stepped on a gun, and from there to the taffrail by 
the mizzen shrouds, and steadying himself by a 
stay, turned his glass toward the strangers. 

“ They must be some way off, since I can not see 
them from here,” he remarked to the officer of the 
deck. “ Masthead, there! What can you see? ” 

“ Looks like a big ship and a smaller one, coming 
this way, sir.” 

“ Go aloft, Mr. Shubrick, and see if you can make 
out anything.” 

“ The lieutenant went up the shrouds of the fore¬ 
mast, to the top, and from that point directed his 
glass in the direction indicated. 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 


i59 

“ She’s a large frigate, with all sail set; standing 
southward, but heading this way,” said the lieu¬ 
tenant. “ The other is a large ship keeping com¬ 
pany, but seems to be changing her course west¬ 
ward.” 

“ We better know more about this,” said Captain 
Bainbridge. “ Officer of the deck, call all hands, 
and make more sail. We will work over toward 
her.” 

Without waiting for the shrill whistle of the boat¬ 
swain and his mates, the crew of the Constitution 
had come on deck again, at the first report of a sail 
in sight, which had been communicated below; 
now they were gathering in groups near the chains. 

“Top-men, aloft; loose topgallant sails and 
royals; clear away the flying jib! ” were the ready 
orders given by the officer of the deck, and hardly 
were they out of his mouth, before the men were 
swarming up the shrouds and lying out on the yards. 
Gaskets were cast off; the sails were let fall. In 
another moment the sheets were home, the sails set 
and trimmed and drawing, giving the Constitution 
increased speed toward the stranger. Captain 
Bainbridge ordered the colors up to the mastheads; 
then he asked the first lieutenant if the men had had 
their breakfast. 

Almost before that officer answered, the officer of 
the deck ordered the men down, and asked, “ Shall 
I send the watch below to breakfast, and then have 
them relieve the watch on deck, sir? ” 


160 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


“ Those ships are some way off,” said the first 
lieutenant to the captain, “ I guess there is plenty 
of time for breakfast; and the men will fight better 
on full stomachs.” 

“ Very good, sir,” replied Captain Bainbridge, 
“ and we will have ours, too,” and he went below. 

It was a very happy crew that occupied the deck 
among the guns, with their breakfast. The pros¬ 
pect of a fight set tongues wagging at a lively rate, 
and the men were bragging of what the frigate 
would do, and what they would do. 

Breakfast over and the mess things disposed of, 
the decks were cleared, and the gunner’s-mates 
began to scatter sand on the decks and around the 
guns, to keep the men from slipping. The gun¬ 
crews were busy overhauling the cannon, to make 
sure they were in working order, before they were 
called to clear for action. Meanwhile, the routine 
duty of the morning was carried on as usual, and the 
forenoon was wearing away. 

Captain Bainbridge was on the quarter-deck, 
constantly alert. He had changed the frigate’s 
course so as to get nearer the two vessels, and at 
eleven o’clock he ordered the royals taken in, and 
gave the helmsmen a more southeasterly course. 
John was one of those to go aloft to handle royals, 
so from the fore-royal yard he had an opportunity 
to see the two enemy ships. They were separating, 
as if one were to meet the Constitution alone . 

Presently Captain Bainbridge ordered up the 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 161 

signal flags of the private code of the day; and when 
it was not answered, he at once decided the ships 
were British, and immediately ordered the frigate 
cleared for action. 

It did not require much time to accomplish this, 
as almost everything was ready for the order. In 
a very short time bulkheads were stowed; cannon 
were cast loose; ammunition was provided; shot and 
wadding tubs were filled; the powder-boys, John 
among them, were at their stations ready to go to 
the magazine for powder charges. The ship was 
quiet, except for low whispers among the men at 
the guns, who were trying to watch the enemy 
through the ports. 

As the British ship did not come in a manner 
satisfactory to Captain Bainbridge, he ordered the 
mainsails and royals set again, and turned the 
frigate toward the Brazilian coast, toward which 
the smaller ship seemed to be making, with the in¬ 
tention of getting between the two vessels, and 
tackling one at a time. 

It was now noon. The men had been busy, and 
were getting hungry again. 

A pleasant murmur ran through the gun-crews on 
the spar deck, just then, as the quartermaster raised 
the colors: the broad pennant at the main; the Stars 
and Stripes at the mizzen peak, and another at the 
main topgallant mast; and the blue star-spangled 
jack at the fore. 

In response to this sign of defiance, the enemy a 


162 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES ” 


few minutes later broke out his colors: a private 
signal at the main masthead; a union jack in the 
main rigging; another jack at the mizzen topgallant 
masthead, and the British ensign at the mizzen 
peak. Then the two ships sailed along on the 
same tack, but out of gunshot of each other. 

As the two ships were jogging along in this way, 
the British frigate kept gaining on “ Old Ironsides,” 
so at 1.06 P.M., Captain Bainbridge changed the 
arrangement of the sails, and stood for the enemy. 

As the Constitution drew nearer the enemy, the 
flags on the British ship were seen to change, all 
being hauled down but the union jack at the mizzen 
masthead. She was about a mile to windward then. 

“What’s the matter with her?” said Captain 
Bainbridge, “ I’ll make her show her colors, and 
see if she wants to fight.” So he sent word to the 
officer commanding the third division of the main- 
deck battery, to fire a shot across the bows of the 
British ship. 

Immediately the gun was trained and fired. The 
smoke curled away from the ship’s side in time for 
the gun-crew to see the splash of the shot ahead of 
the British ship’s course, but not in the range. 

At once the British ship broke out all her colors, 
and let go a broadside at the Constitution, but not a 
shot reached the frigate. 

That was the signal for the Constitution to do 
something. Captain Bainbridge at once ordered 
a broadside from the larboard battery. 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 163 

The men had been waiting for this. With the 
command to fire, the guns were discharged almost 
together, and the good ship quivered with the re¬ 
coil. The guns were hauled in, cleaned and loaded 
again, for the broadside had not reached the enemy; 
only the long 24-pounders dropping their shot so 
that it splashed the water against her hull. 

The two ships kept edging nearer, after this, and 
when they were about half a mile apart, at 2.10 P.M. 
Captain Bainbridge let go the larboard battery 
again. It was plain this time, that the shots went 
aboard and surprised the British, for they did not 
reply at once; but when the ships had drawn still 
nearer, about pistol-shot distance, they returned the 
fire with the starboard battery. 

For the next fifteen minutes the two fighters ran 
along broadside to broadside, each ship busy with 
giving and taking a tremendous fire. The British 
aim was the better, for her shot began to come 
aboard the Constitution , and several of the crew 
were killed and wounded. Then the smoke cloud 
shut down on the two ships, the wind being too light 
to clear the cloud, and for a few minutes the guns’ 
crews fired, as they afterward said, “ by dead 
reckoning, but the British ship reckoned her dead.” 

John was carrying powder to a gun on the spar 
deck. He could see Captain Bainbridge walking 
back and forth, watching the other ship. Captain 
Bainbridge was a large man; six feet tall, broad- 
shouldered, with a spirit that just fitted his splendid 


164 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


body. He was an excellent mark for the enemy’s 
sharpshooters, and John saw several bullets strike 
the deck not far from the captain. 

Presently the captain stopped in his walk and 
almost fell over. He caught at the mizzen mast 
fife rail, and steadied himself. An expression of 
pain was on his face, and he reached down and put 
his hand against his thigh. He had been hit, at 
last. 

John went on to his gun with his bucket of 
cartridges, and came back. The captain had 
hobbled to the wheel, and steadied himself by lean¬ 
ing on the wheel-frame. He had not given up to 
the wound, and evidently he did not intend to. 
Not much blood showed on his trousers, so it was 
not a very severe wound, for such a big and strong 
man. He still watched the other ship, and gave 
orders as was necessary. 

“ The captain’s been hit,” John said to the men 
at the gun he was tending. 

“ Is that so?” exclaimed the gun captain. 
“ Then I’ll return evil for evil, in spite of the Bible,” 
and he began to sight the gun. 

About that time the British ship, which was a 
smart sailer, was outfooting the Constitution, and 
was overreaching, so she was almost clear of her 
guns; only the two bow guns in that broadside bear¬ 
ing. Then the enemy squared away, and tried to 
cross the bow of the Constitution, in order to rake 
her. 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 165 

But Captain Bainbridge forgot his wound, on 
seeing the danger for his ship, and he sent men to 
the braces, and in answer to her helm she came 
around, and still kept the broadside toward the 
enemy. 

“ Now’s your time to pay back that shot for the 
captain, Sam,” said one of the gun-crew, and Sam 
sighted the gun carefully, crowding the quoin a 
little tighter, so that the muzzle was more depressed. 
Then he pulled the lanyard, and he declared he saw 
the splinters fly where he had aimed. But the 
whole broadside was busy pouring in a steady fire, 
so no one argued about his marksmanship. 

Side by side the two fighters sailed along, and 
presently the British ship tried to cross the Con¬ 
stitutions bow again. Putting up her wheel, her 
stern swung away from the American ship, and her 
bow turned so as to bring her guns in a half-raking 
position; and as a diagonal range was better than 
nothing, she let go a broadside that hammered hard 
on “ Old Ironsides,” and also made trouble, for one 
round shot struck the Constitution s steering-wheel, 
smashing it into pieces, killing four men, and 
wounding several near by with the splinters; and 
among them, Captain Bainbridge, his leg being 
struck again, this time by a small copper bolt from 
the wreck of the wheel. 

This was a most unfortunate disaster for the 
American ship, not only to have her captain hurt 
again, but especially to lose the steering-wheel just 


166 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


when it was most needed. Fortunately, there was 
an emergency tiller below decks, with tackles to 
handle it; and before the frigate lost her place, 
the first lieutenant had sent men to the tiller and 
called enough midshipmen to make a line by which 
the word could be passed from the quarter-deck 
to the helmsmen. This proved an effective, if not 
quite so prompt, method for steering, and the Con¬ 
stitution came around again readily, and the two 
ships headed eastward, on the larboard tack. 

Captain Bainbridge now had every excuse for 
leaving the deck, for surgical treatment; but not so 
for him. A surgeon was called, and he stood up 
against the wreck of the wheel, while the surgeon 
worked to get out the bolt; and succeeded, but it 
must have been a painful experience for the brave 
captain, and trying to the surgeon. 

The men at the near-by guns could not help 
watching the surgeon’s efforts, almost to the detri¬ 
ment of their gunnery. 

“ Look at that man! ” exclaimed Andrew Peter¬ 
son, referring to the captain, “ Ain’t he plucky, 
though. To stand there and let the doctor dig into 
his leg! ” 

“ The Old Man ain’t enjoyin’ it, if you ask me,” 
replied Tom Winch, “ I can see him grit his teeth. 
I’ll bet it hurts him.” 

Captain Bainbridge saw that he was the object 
of the men’s sympathetic interest, but he did not 
think of himself. 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 167 

“ Never mind me, men. Keep to your gun. 
Aim low, and make every shot count. I’ll be all 
right,” and the captain drew up his splendid body 
to his full height, as he resisted the pain of the 
wound. 

The surgeon was not long about the task. He 
wrapped a bandage around the captain’s leg, draw¬ 
ing it tightly so that he could continue to walk. 
Then he held out the bolt, which had made so much 
trouble, to the captain, saying: 

“There, sir; there’s a memento of this fight, 
which you may want to wear on your watch-fob.” 

“ Thank you, Doctor, I’ll keep that gladly, but 
I want a bigger memento as well, which I can’t 
wear,” replied the captain. “ Careful, there, 
quartermaster, steady on the helm! ” and the word 
was immediately passed below by the midshipmen. 

“Hold her as she is!” called Captain Bain- 
bridge, for just at that moment the British ship 
lunged ahead, in attempt to close with the Con¬ 
stitution, but by keeping her course it brought the 
bowsprit of the enemy ship into the mizzen rigging, 
and in a moment, with the lurching of the two ships, 
her jib boom was torn away. 

“Now boys, give it to her!” yelled Captain 
Bainbridge, and the British ship being in a beautiful 
position to be raked, received a heavy fire from the 
Constitution s broadside. 

All this time the British ship had kept the weather 
gauge, but her commander, seeing a possible op- 


168 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


portunity, and the ship being easily handled, when 
the Constitution was bothered by her clumsy steer¬ 
ing system, she took a chance to run across the Con¬ 
stitution s bow, giving her a raking fire. 

Luckily for the American ship, her enemy was 
not as good at shooting as at sailing; and even this 
opportunity to rake the Constitution failed, because 
of poor gunnery. The British shot went almost 
everywhere but into the Constitution s hull, and the 
American frigate ran ahead on the starboard tack, 
while the British frigate went off on the starboard 
tack. As she luffed, she tried another raking 
broadside at the American ship, but “ Old Iron¬ 
sides ” just then was too far away for wild shooting 
to do much damage. 

Captain Bainbridge was alert to the possibilities 
of the situation, and it was his turn to take a chance. 
Setting the foresails and mainsails he sailed directly 
for the enemy, at the same time giving her every 
opportunity to rake in return. The sailors on the 
Constitution saw what was coming. 

“ Now we’re going to get it! ” yelled Bill Swipes, 
“ Better pick out your hiding-places, for the Brit¬ 
isher is going to sweep our decks clean! ” Nor 
was he the only anxious and almost frightened one; 
all those on deck who could see overside, expected 
to face a blast of shot. 

On went the Constitution, into almost certain 
damage, if not destruction; but the enemy failed to 
inflict it. 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 169 

What the trouble was, no one knew, but the 
British ship fired only one gun, and that a nine- 
pounder; and before the whole battery woke up 
“ Old Ironsides ” had passed along, letting loose her 
own starboard broadside. 

The two ships were at close range, and the effect 
of the American’s fire was terrible. 

Away went the bowsprit of the British frigate, 
and thereby she drew away, which left the Con¬ 
stitution free to forge ahead, and in so doing, she 
fired another heavy broadside, in a diagonal direc¬ 
tion into the stern of the British ship. 

That was the last broadside fired, for the British 
ship having lost her headgear, the foremast no 
longer had the support of the forestays, so toppled 
overboard, breaking the forecastle and staving the 
main deck as the heavy spars dropped down. A 
few minutes later, the mizzen gaff and spanker- 
boom feeling the effect of the Constitution s last 
broadside, fell over, a tangle of spars, sails, and 
ropes. All that there was left standing was the 
mainmast, its topmast having fallen at the head. 
The smart frigate of a few hours before was a snarl 
of rigging and a shattered hull. 

The Constitution was near enough to the enemy 
just then, so that what was left of her bowsprit be¬ 
came entangled with the frigate’s starboard mizzen 
rigging; and boarders were called. 

Lieutenant John C. Alwyn, who had been pro¬ 
moted from sailing master to lieutenant, forgetting 


170 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

all about how he was wounded in the shoulder, on 
the last cruise, when he led the boarders about to 
carry the fight on the deck of the Guerriere, started 
promptly to lead in this attempt. Up on the 
bulwark he climbed, and into the hammock-net¬ 
tings, calling to the men to “ Come on! ” He did 
not need to call them, they were right beside him, 
and on his heels scrambling up over the car- 
ronades, with cutlass in the right hand, and pistol 
in the other. Lieutenant Alwyn saw a place to 
break in, and he fired his pistol at a man on the 
other ship, who was about to thrust at him with a 
pike. He got the man, who fell back to the deck; 
but just then, the lieutenant felt a twinge in his 
shoulder, the same shoulder that was wounded in 
August. That shot from a marine in the maintop 
drove him back, and his men caught him as he was 
falling from the nettings. 

“ I’m all right, boys. It isn’t bad. I know how 
it feels. I got it there before.” But he was pale, 
and was too unsteady to stand, so the men were 
about to carry him below. 

“ No, sir! ” he cried, “ I’m worth a dozen dead 
men, yet, I think. Don’t carry me below. I’m 
going to stay here. Back to your guns, boys; we 
aren’t through with those fellows yet! ” 

The two ships became untangled then, and there 
was no need for boarders on either side. The 
British ship was going from bad to worse. Some 
of her crew were trying to serve the few available 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 171 

guns as vigorously as possible, but their efforts were 
quite fruitless, as it was difficult to bring a gun to 
bear. 

In a few more minutes, between the effect of the 
Constitution s guns and the weakness of the rigging, 
the British ship’s mizzenmast what was left of it, 
went overboard, and the tangle of rigging, spars, 
and sails caught fire from her own guns. That gave 
the enemy plenty to do instead of useless firing, 
although the Constitution s crew were sending a 
shot whenever they could find a spot to aim at. 

As the Britisher’s mizzenmast went over, carry¬ 
ing with it the ensign at the gaff, the seamen on the 
Constitution's spar deck shouted, “ There goes her 
flag! Her flag’s down! She’s struck! Hurrah, 
Hurrah! ” 

About four o’clock, the British frigate stopped 
all attempts at firing. Only the lower part of the 
mainmast was standing. The crew were trying to 
rig a jury foremast, but it was useless. The main¬ 
mast was threatening to fall on the deck, as the 
ship was rolling a good deal. So they had to cut 
it away before it smashed the vessel any worse. 
“ Old Ironsides,” which for a second time had won 
the right to the nickname, was a little way from 
the British ship, having ceased firing when the 
enemy stopped. It was necessary to repair the 
rigging, which had been damaged in much the same 
way as was the case in the fight with the Guerriere, 
most of the British shot going high. The mizzen- 


172 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

mast had a bad hole in it, and the lower spars had 
been splintered, but everything was safe enough 
for still more fighting. 

Captain Bainbridge seemed to have forgotten 
about his wounds in the excitement of the battle, 
and now he was hobbling about, holding by a 
quartermaster’s strong shoulder for support. He 
watched the other ship steadily, leaving the manage¬ 
ment of the Constitution to the officer of the deck. 

All of a sudden, the captain exclaimed, “ By 
thunder, those fellows haven’t had enough yet! 
There goes a flag on the mizzenmast. We’ll give 
them what they want! Mr. Parker,” to the first 
lieutenant, “ bring the ship around, and we’ll lay 
her alongside, and give them another pounding.” 

The frigate was brought around to the British 
hulk for a final broadside, but the enemy thought he 
had punishment enough, and a man ran to the 
stump of the mast and pulled down the flag. 

Then a boat, in fact it was the only boat not in¬ 
jured, was lowered, and Lieutenant Parker went 
aboard the British ship. He was received by a 
lieutenant, who had been handling the ship since 
the captain was wounded. 

a What ship is this, sir, and have you surrend¬ 
ered?” asked Lieutenant Parker. 

“ This is H is Britannic Majesty’s frigate Java, 
Captain Lambert, now wounded. I am Lieutenant 
Chads, and have the honor to command. As 
further resistance seems useless, we surrender,” 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 173 

was the answer of the tired-looking officer, who 
showed the strain he had been under. 

“ Lieutenant Chads, I congratulate you on your 
spirited resistance. You certainly have given us a 
lively fight. I am Lieutenant Parker, of the United 
States frigate Constitution, Captain William 
Bainbridge. Will you accompany me on board? ” 

The British lieutenant was brought back to the 
Constitution, and was escorted to the quarter-deck 
by Lieutenant Parker. Captain Bainbridge re¬ 
ceived him courteously, though occasionally he bit 
his lip, as the pain from his wounds darted through 
his body. 

Lieutenant Chads said, “ I have the honor to 
represent my commander, Captain Lambert, who is 
too severely wounded to perform any duty, and I 
present his sword, to you, sir, in token of the sur¬ 
render of His Britannic Majesty’s frigate Java, of 
forty-seven guns. We are in bad shape, sir; but I 
feel sure that we are able to keep afloat for some 
time.” 

Captain Bainbridge replied to this gentlemanly 
statement of the situation, “ Mr. Chads, I ap¬ 
preciate your delicate position, and I recognize the 
responsibility forced upon you. I congratulate 
you and your unfortunate commander, on the 
splendid defence and attack you have maintained, 
and I am loth to receive the sword of a brave man, 
from an equally brave man. Mr. Chads, will you 
please have Captain Lambert brought aboard this 


174 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES" 

ship as soon as convenient, where I think he can be 
made more comfortable.” 

The captain then went below, to have his wounds 
treated, and to take a rest that was necessary on ac¬ 
count of his condition. 

Lieutenant Chads was returned to his own ship, 
and at once the attention of both crews was given 
to making the wounded on the Java comfortable; 
and to clearing the wreck on the decks. Lieutenant 
Parker and a prize-crew went aboard to take 
charge. 

They reported a terrible condition; decks strewn 
with wounded men, from among whom the Java's 
crew had been taking the killed, and throwing the 
bodies overboard as fast as they could. The decks 
were littered with dismounted and overturned can¬ 
non, and the spar deck was entangled with the wreck 
of the rigging. 

In inspecting the Java, Lieutenant Parker found 
on board Lieutenant General Hislop, Governor of 
Bombay, and his suite of officers; with a part of the 
crews of the Cornwallis, 74 guns, and the sloops 
Chameleon and Icarus. The frigate also carried 
stores for these vessels, and fittings for a 74-gun 
vessel. 

The Java's armament consisted of twenty-eight 
long 18-pounders; sixteen short 32-pounders; two 
long 9-pounders; one short 18-pounder, the battery 
being French-made cannon. 

As soon as they could muster the crew, it was 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 175 

found that the Java had 426 men, of whom sixty 
had been killed, and 101 wounded. “ Old Iron¬ 
sides ” was more fortunate. Of a crew of 480, only 
nine were killed, and twenty-five wounded. 

During the engagement, all the boats but one on 
each ship had been damaged by the gun-fire, and 
were useless. These two boats were kept con¬ 
stantly busy transferring the Java’s people to the 
Constitution, for it was found that the British ship 
was so shattered below as well as aloft that it would 
be difficult, if not impossible, to get her to Bahia. 
The work of removing the crew and their property 
was therefore, slow, and made harder because of a 
rough sea. 

One of the last of the wounded to be removed to 
the Constitution was Captain Lambert, who, shot 
through the left shoulder and badly wounded in¬ 
ternally, was in a fever and delirious, not knowing 
the conditions of the end of the battle. The suffer¬ 
ing officer was placed in the boat, and brought with 
great care to the other frigate. 

It was a dangerous passage. The seas were run¬ 
ning high, tossing the small boat from wave to wave; 
but at last it ran under the lee of the Constitution. 

The passage of this boat was an incident of great 
interest to all on each ship. Friends and enemies 
were anxious that the wounded officer should arrive 
in safety; and when the boat was in a position to 
allow the cot to be raised to the Constitution deck, 
and it was accomplished without added pain to the 


176 A SON OF (< OLD IRONSIDES” 


wounded man, many of the almost breathless 
watchers gave a sigh of relief. 

Captain Lambert’s cot was placed where he could 
have air and comfort; and after a time, as his 
strength failed, the delirium passed. He became 
conscious, and then Captain Bainbridge, suffering 
from his wounds, and supported by two of his 
officers, came to the dying man, and placed his 
sword again in his hand, telling him how glad he 
was to be able to do that act for one who had de¬ 
fended and fought his ship so bravely and efficiently. 
Those of both crews, who saw this delicate courtesy, 
so gracefully and honestly done, looked at each 
other with tear-filled eyes, and at once a better 
feeling was established between conquered and 
victors. 

Among the first tasks to be attended to by the 
Constitution s carpenters, was the removal of the 
steering-wheel and binnacles of the Java, which 
were unhurt, and the setting-up of the same on the 
Constitution, the wheel of which had been smashed 
during the action. This was a fair return for the 
damage done; and while the Java's wheel was less 
graceful than the one her shot had destroyed, it 
was sufficient for the needs of the Constitution, and 
remained in service many years after the war. 

It was slow work moving the crew of the Java 
to the Constitution with their personal property, and 
such supplies and trophies as Captain Bainbridge 
deemed desirable to take; but it was accomplished 


THE FIGHT WITH THE “JAVA” 


177 

during the night and the next day, December 
thirtieth, and the forenoon of the thirty-first. 
Meanwhile, it was seen that the British ship had 
been too severely injured by the Constitution's shot 
to be repaired at sea; and as Brazil was more 
friendly to Great Britain, than to America, any 
attempt to get the injured vessel to Boston, under 
any kind of a jury rig would be a dangerous under¬ 
taking. So having cleared the hulk of everything 
worth saving, about noon, Lieutenant Parker’s crew 
set her on fire in a number of places, and again the 
officers and crew of the Constitution had the op¬ 
portunity of seeing a defeated vessel destroyed; 
for about three o’clock, the fire having reached the 
magazines, the shattered hulk was blown to pieces, 
and as the smoke and dust cloud rolled away, a mass 
of wreckage, splintered timbers and spars floated 
off to leeward. 

Then the Constitution squared away westward 
for Bahia, only to see in the distance, a vessel 
coming toward her. The crew were called to 
quarters at once, to be ready to meet another enemy. 

Lieutenant Alwyn, who was confined to his bed 
by his wounds, hearing the noise and the bustle of 
the crew, got up and dressed, and went to his station. 
As the strange ship proved to be the frigate’s con¬ 
sort, Hornet, the men were piped down, but the 
strain on the loyal Alwyn was too much for his 
shattered nerves, and before the Constitution 
reached Boston, he died, and his body was com- 


178 A SON OF t( OLD IRONSIDES” 

mitted to the ocean, on which he had distinguished 
himself as a good sailor and a brave officer. 

Again, officers and men on the Constitution were 
entertaining captured guests. In the cabin were 
Lieutenant General Hislop, Major Walker and 
Captain Wood, of the general’s staff, beside the 
officers of the Java. The wardroom, the steerage, 
and the men’s quarters welcomed to their messes 
the crew of the Java, and the soldiers, who were on 
their way to India. There was plenty of amuse¬ 
ment, as the two recent-enemy forces fraternized 
like shipmates. The kind interest of Captain 
Bainbridge wounded as he was, in the welfare of 
the dying Captain Lambert, was deeply appreciated 
by the British people. 

It was now learned, that the ship which was with 
the Java, was the American merchantman William, 
which under a prize-crew had been sent into Bahia. 
Before reaching that port, she was recaptured by 
the Hornet, which was cruising off and on, waiting 
for the British sloop of war, Bonne Citoyenne, one 
of the finest in the service, to come out. The 
Hornet continued her vigil, even after the Con¬ 
stitution had sailed for the United States. 




CHAPTER IX 

BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 

ONE of the first jobs to be done, after putting the 
frigate into condition to make Bahia, was to plan to 
get rid of the crew of the Java, who now encumbered 
the ship. It was surprising and gratifying to see 
the way in which the British sailors took the change 
in their condition. They had been defeated in a 
fair fight; they had been well treated from the time 
Lieutenant Chads surrendered the ship to the Con¬ 
stitution, and they all appreciated the courtesy and 
sympathy with which Captain Bainbridge had 
treated Captain Lambert, who was in a sad con¬ 
dition; so they had no reason to be hostile toward 
their captors. 

The officers found that they, too, were among 
gentlemen, and were received in the wardroom with 
great courtesy, and with the comradeship of sailors. 
The sympathetic interest of both American and 
British officers was directed to Captain Lambert, 
who, it was plain, could not recover from the 
terrible wound which he received from the bullet 
of the musket of one of the Constitution s marines; 


179 


180 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


but since he had passed the first degree of suffering, 
and the delirium from the discomfort of the hot 
temperature, and the closeness of the cabin, for his 
cot had been removed to the quarter-deck, he now 
lay comfortable, but failing steadily. The officers 
of the Java gave him their constant attention, and 
Doctor Jones, the Constitution s surgeon used all 
his skill to ease his last hours. 

Meanwhile, on the gun-deck the two crews in¬ 
dulged in sociable associations. Every man of the 
frigate’s crew who could do any kind of an amuse¬ 
ment, did his best. There were yarn-spinning, 
dances, singing, trials of individual strength, and 
all kinds of rough but hearty sports. Some of the 
time a seaman of the Java crew showed superiority, 
in which case he was as heartily cheered by the 
Americans as by his own countrymen; and if a 
Yankee succeeded in winning over his British an¬ 
tagonist, he was as kindly treated by the prisoners. 
In fact, it hardly seemed that the Java men were 
prisoners, so little evidence was there of war con¬ 
ditions. 

When the British sailors were together, they 
discussed their situation with considerable freedom. 
While they went into the engagement with every 
expectation of winning, they recognized that they 
had been too sure. 

The Constitution pushed along for Bahia, as 
fast as possible, as Captain Bainbridge had too 
large a family for the accommodations of the 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 181 

frigate, and by January fourth, she was off the 
harbor again. 

Preparations were made for landing the crew of 
the Java, on parole, which was the only way of get¬ 
ting rid of an encumbering responsibility. 

As soon as the British prisoners were all landed 
at Bahia, and Captain Lambert carefully taken 
ashore, the Constitution was again turned seaward, 
cruising in search of the Essex, which still was not 
heard from. The Hornet, having captured the 
ship William, which as the prize of the Java had 
been sent away to make Bahia, when the British 
frigate saw that she would have to fight with the 
American ship, had replaced the captors with her 
own crew and taking out the prize-crew sent the 
William to America. Then the Hornet returned 
to her watch of the Bonne Citoyenne. 

Captain Bainbridge’s search for the Essex 
proving fruitless, he turned back again to Bahia, for 
a day or so, and then as the frigate showed some 
signs of weakness, the result of the battle and decay 
from long service without proper overhauling, and 
the mizzenmast had been wounded by a shot from 
the Java, Captain Bainbridge decided not to at¬ 
tempt more cruising toward the south, but to re¬ 
turn to Boston, before further loss might occur. 
The Constitution was not so much damaged in the 
engagement with the Java, as to be unfit for another 
battle, but it was better to have the repairs made as 
soon as possible. 


182 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


On January sixth, 1813, the sails were trimmed, 
and the course laid to the northward. “ Old Iron¬ 
sides,” again a victor, was headed for the home 
port, and every one on board was happy to feel that 
they had done their duty with success. As soon 
as the ship was in a seaway, the routine life was re¬ 
sumed, and the crew began to recall the events of 
the past few weeks, and the incidents of the battle 
with the Java, which furnished plenty of subjects 
for conversation and arguments. 

So it always happened, that when two or three 
seamen found opportunity to enjoy a smoke to¬ 
gether, whether during their watch on deck, or in 
the hours off duty, some one else would join in, 
especially if the name of Captain Bainbridge were 
mentioned. If any man took occasion to find fault 
—and those instances were very few and far between 
—some one else would be sure to join in with his 
ideas, or his experiences when serving with Captain 
Bainbridge in former years, and the result was that 
there was ammunition enough to keep the party 
loading and firing for some time, before they ex¬ 
hausted their supply of stories. 

It so happened, that on one occasion Bill Garnett 
stopped to remark to Tom Patterson that in this last 
fight, Captain Bainbridge seemed to act just as 
though he were really enjoying himself, in spite of 
his troublesome wounds. 

“ You better believe he did! ” exclaimed Patter¬ 
son, “ If there is a man afloat, in the United States 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 183 

Navy, who likes to be in a mix-up, it is 4 Broadside 
Billy ’ Bainbridge, for he has had troubles enough, 
when he couldn’t fight, to be ready to fight when he 
could.” 

“ Do you know, Bill, how Captain Bainbridge 
suffered one time, when he was under the rule of the 
Dey of Algiers? No? Well, I’ll tell you, for I 
was there, with him.” 

Patterson shook his forefinger toward Garnett, 
as he talked earnestly, and his attitude and emphatic 
way of speaking—he never hesitated to raise his 
voice, when he was interested in what he was saying 
—at once attracted the attention of those who were 
in need of entertainment. There was nothing to 
prevent the watch on deck taking it easy for a while, 
as the frigate was bowling along with a steady wind 
which kept the sails filled without attention at the 
braces. So one man beckoned to another; and an¬ 
other said, “ Here’s fun,” and some one said, “ Tom 
Patterson has cleared his deck for action, come on 
and get some of the spoils,” and in almost no time, 
quite a number had gathered around the first two 
speakers. 

“What yer talkin’ about, Tom?” asked Ben 
Flyblock. 

“ He’s goin’ to tell us about how him and the 
captain fought the wild Algerines,” said Garnett. 

“ I was a sayin’,” said Patterson, by way of in¬ 
troduction, “ that Captain Bainbridge liked to fight 
anything, by way of easin’ his feelin’s, which were 



184 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 

badly damaged in the Mediterranean, in 1800; and 
I was there.” 

“ Heave ahead, Tom,” said one of the group, 
“ Tell us all about it.” 

“ It was in the fall of 1800,” began Patterson, 
“ when Captain Bainbridge took out the frigate 
George Washington of twenty guns, which origi¬ 
nally was the General Monk that Captain Barney 
captured, in the Hyder All. She wa’n’t much of a 
frigate, but she was about all they had in those days, 
after the Revolutionary War. Anyway, Captain 
Bainbridge had to take to the American consul to 
Algiers the tribute money the United States was 
payin’, instead of having a decent navy. We wa’n’t 
very proud of that sort of business. The country 
was payin’ tribute to them barbarians, just to have 
’em keep their hands off’n our merchant ships that 
run to Smyrna and other ports in the Mediter¬ 
ranean ; and when them Algerines caught any of our 
ships and put the people in prison, the President 
and his folks asked the churches to raise money to 
ransom ’em; and I’ll be blowed bottom upward, if 
they didn’t do it! 

“ Well, things was goin’ on that way, and Captain 
Bainbridge come to Algiers. The Dey—him that 
is king there—wanted the frigate to be lent to him, 
to take some presents, money and women-slaves and 
such truck, to the Sultan at Constantinople, being 
as he was under him. 

“ Captain Bainbridge bein’ a full-blooded 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 185 

American didn’t want to do no such dirty work, and 
be errand-boy to that barbarian; so he said so, and 
that made the Dey mad, and he said he’d blow the 
George Washin’ton out of the water, and all over it, 
if the captain didn’t do as he said. He told Captain 
Bainbridge, ‘You Americans pay me tribute, and 
that makes you my slaves, so I have a right to tell you 
what I want you to do, and you best do it.’ 

“ Of course Captain Bainbridge didn’t like to 
have to swallow such duff as that; but the consul 
said he better do it, or the Dey’d declare war on the 
United States, and we wa’n’t in no shape to fight 
one; not having a navy big enough to count on your 
two hands. So there wa’n’t nothing left for the 
captain to do, but chaw his heartstrings and take 
the presents and people on board; and my, how they 
smelt! You talk of ‘ bilge water ’ and think that’s 
hard to bear, but I tell you, them hairy Algerines, 
and them slave-girls hadn’t felt water on ’em since 
they was born, and we had to give up part of the 
berth deck to them cattle, and the most of us bunked 
on the gun deck or on the spar deck, anywhere, 
where we could breathe the air. How them crit¬ 
ters live that way, I can’t understand. 

“ Well, I must be makin’ sail. We went to Con¬ 
stantinople, and landed the present to the Sultan; 
and I tell you, it had been some cruise. Beside 
them dirty animals on the ship, we had to sail 
with the Algerine flag at the main, and the United 
States flag at the fore. The captain tried not to 


186 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


have any such dirty trick played, but the Dey was 
smart at dirty tricks, and backed ’em up with threats 
to shoot at us, and not let us out of the harbor, unless 
we did what he wanted. We sailed under that red 
rag of them wild Algerines, but you can bet your 
prize-money, we pulled it down as soon as we was 
out of gun-shot. 

“ Another disgustin’ performance that afflicted 
us, by having them Algerine people was; they had 
to pray five times a day, anyway, and a few more 
times for good measure; and when they did, they 
had to face toward Mecca. They didn’t know 
which way Mecca was, unless they asked, and when 
they got down on their knees on the spar deck, they 
was mightily in the way; and if the ship tacked, as 
sometimes it had to, and sometimes the captain 
tacked her on purpose, them prayers had to get up 
anchor and take a new course, always keepin’ 
headed toward Mecca. Finally, they had a man of 
their gang stand at the binnacle and watch the 
compass, and tell ’em every time the ship changed 
her course. It was fun to see him stand and wave 
his arms and point and clap his hands; and every 
time, them barbarians rose up and relaid their 
rugs and went at it again, on the new tack. We 
played it on ’em badly one time. When the ship 
tacked, the man at the wheel turned the points of 
the compass, and when their prayer-pilot come to 
get his bearin’s he headed them all so that they was 
praying sterns toward Mecca. In a few minutes, 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 187 

they found out something was wrong, as the ship 
tacked again, and they let out howls and yells that 
didn’t have no prayer-words in ’em, from the way 
they sounded. After that they set several of their 
quartermasters abaft the wheel to watch that they 
was kept straight. Oh, I tell ye, we was glad to un¬ 
load that cargo of pious pirates! 

“ Well, we had quite a time getting by the Turkish 
batteries in the Dardanelles. The Turks stopped 
the frigate, and demanded our passport. The 
captain didn’t have one, and he didn’t want to 
have to anchor and lay there for days, with them 
critters on board, so he played one of his Yankee 
tricks. He headed in toward the anchorage, and 
let go the topsails, clewed up the courses, and acted 
just as if he was coming to anchor; but meanwhile, 
he began to fire a salute to the Turkish forts, and we 
made so much smoke, and the Turks made smoke, 
too, and the captain pulled up the sails again, under 
cover of the smoke-cloud, and moved straight 
ahead. Them Turkish cannon was set trained only 
straight ahead, so we outsailed ’em, and they 
couldn’t traverse ’em to aim at us, and we got away 
all right. 

“ We made Constantinople, all right, and a pasha 
there give the captain a 1 firman ’, some kind of a 
paper that had the Sultan’s name on it, and allowed 
Captain Bainbridge to go anywhere in the Turkish 
Empire, and have the Sultan’s protection. 

“ While we was there, the captain had his cutter 


188 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


go up into the Black Sea. I was in the crew, and 
we rowed up the stream, and into the sea; and then 
the captain said to us, ‘ Men, this is the first time 
that the flag of the United States of America has 
ever been seen in this part of the world. The 
Turkish Sultan never saw it till now; and now it 
has been flown on the Black Sea.’ 

“ We got done with the Sultan, and went back to 
Algiers; but we come to anchor outside far enough 
that their old guns couldn’t reach us, if they wanted 
to be ugly. The Dey didn’t like our being so far 
out, and he sent a boat with a messenger tellin’ 
Captain Bainbridge he wanted him to come in the 
harbor, and then make another trip to Constanti¬ 
nople. But the captain thought if we got in there, 
the Dey might capture us, and put us in prison, so 
he stayed outside, and let Old Whiskers-face snarl 
and fume all he wanted to. 

“ He did get the consul to get Captain Bainbridge 
to come to the palace, and although he promised he 
would be safe, the old pirate began to rage and 
threaten the captain with punishment and prison. 
For a little while it looked kind of dangerous for 
the captain, but he remembered that paper with the 
Sultan’s name on it; so he pulled it out and showed 
it to Old Whiskers; and that cooked him. He 
stopped being so devilish ugly, and was nice as a 
summer day. He asked what he could do to make 
it pleasant for Captain Bainbridge, and I don’t 
know what else; anyway, he got all over threatening 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 189 

him. But he did declare war on France, and cut 
down their flagpole at the consul’s house. 

“ The Dey made threats to put every French man, 
woman, and child in irons, if they didn’t get out of 
Algiers inside forty-eight hours, knowing there 
wa’n’t no ship they could take. But Captain Bain- 
bridge took ’em all aboard the George Washington, 
and landed ’em at Alicante. Napoleon thanked 
the captain by letter, and then we sailed for 
America.” 

“ That’s what comes from not having a real navy, 
when you need it,” remarked Ben Flyblock, as Tom 
Patterson finished his story. “ You can’t expect 
a country to be respected by other countries, unless 
it is capable of doublin’ up its fists with cannon in¬ 
side ’em. They say the United States as soon as it 
got out of the Revolutionary War sold most of its 
warships, as they thought it would be expensive 
to keep up a navy, and so first thing that happened 
was that trouble in the Mediterranean, with them 
pirates, as Tom told us.” 

“ Yes,” said Tom, “ and instead of payin’ money 
for a navy, they paid it out in tribute, and kept 
losing merchant ships besides, and that meant the 
loss of a lot of money in their cargoes; and then, to 
cap all, they expected the people and the churches 
to raise more money for ransoms. I call that 
throwin’ good money after bad; and all they got 
out of the performance was bein’ called a second- 
rate country, when a country that whipped England 


190 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

ought to have gone on and licked them pirates, 
right off.” 

“ Another thing that happened that showed what 
a poor plan it was not to have a navy to back-up the 
merchant ships,” said Flyblock, “ was the way Eng¬ 
land treated the merchant ships, by stealing men 
offen their decks, calling ’em British citizens, when 
like as not they was born right in Marblehead, or 
Salem, and never sot foot on a British deck until the 
British officers snaked ’em offen their own ships. 
I tell you, if they’d been a navy then, with such men 
in it as ‘ Broadside Billy ’, here, they wouldn’t have 
had no trouble. Did you ever hear how he sassed 
the British Lion and didn’t get scratched, either? 
Well, I’ll tell you. You see it was this way: it was 
some time in 1796, after the war was all over, and 
navy’d all gone to pot, that Captain Bainbridge was 
sailing in the merchant ship Hope, from foreign 
parts. He was cornin’ back to America, when a 
British warship overhauled him, and made him 
heave to. A boat came aboard the Hope, with a 
smart officer, who made the captain muster his crew 
to see if there was any British subjects among ’em. 
Captain Bainbridge done so, but I’ll bet he didn’t 
have much stomach for the job; however, his was 
a merchant ship, and so he couldn’t resist a man-o’- 
war. 

“ The officer looked the crew over, and decided 
that because the mate’s name was McKinsey, he 
was a Scotchman. He wa’n’t, but it didn’t go with 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 


191 

the lieutenant, who intended to take him. He let 
him go below to get his kit, but the captain had given 
him a word, and so when he seemed a long time 
coming back, the lieutenant went after him, and 
found he had gone into his state-room and barred 
the door, and he told the lieutenant, that if he dared 
break down that door, he or the first man who come 
in would go before his Maker, for he had two pistols 
loaded, and would use ’em quick. 

“ That was a plenty for the lieutenant, and he give 
it up, and went back on deck, and grabbed the first 
sailor he came across, and carried him off. 

“ Captain Bainbridge couldn’t help himself or 
the sailor, either; but he told that lieutenant, that 
he would take a man out of the first British merchant 
ship he met, to take the place of the one he was 
stealing. 

“ The lieutenant told him he wouldn’t dare to 
do it. 

“‘Won’t I?’ said Captain Bainbridge. ‘You 
listen, and you’ll hear about it.’ 

“ Well, sir; what do you think? It was only a 
few days after that, that the Hope met a British 
brig, heading eastward. It was a smart vessel, and 
carried eight guns, while the Hope only had four, 
and, of course, crew enough to man ’em. Never 
mind; Captain Bainbridge though he was only a 
young feller, had grit enough for a seventy-four- 
gun captain, and he ran up to that brig; told ’em to 
heave to, as he was goin’ to send a boat aboard with 


192 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

an important message. He had his men at the guns, 
but kept the ports closed. Then he manned a boat, 
and got in it himself, and went aboard that brig. 
He told the master of her that the message was, he’d 
been robbed of a seaman by a British bully of a 
warship, and they’d carried off his man; and now 
he was going to have one in place of him. 

“ The master of the British brig, said he wa’n’t, 
but Captain Bainbridge sung out, 4 All ready,men! ’ 
and he grabbed a sailor, himself, and hustled him to 
the gangway, before the crew of the brig knew 
what was happening. The captain was a sizable 
man then, just as he is now, and there wa’n’t many 
in that crew that could match him. His sailors 
crowded around as he hustled the man into the boat, 
and they all tumbled in. As they cast off, the crew 
on the Hope triced up the shutters of the ports and 
ran out the guns, and waved their matches. It was 
done so quick, the brig’s crew didn’t know what to 
do, and before they was ready to go to quarters, the 
Hope filled away, and fired a gun, and run up an¬ 
other American flag. Captain Bainbridge had 
made good his threat, and the British government 
never picked it up. That’s the kind of a man Cap¬ 
tain William Bainbridge was and is, and I guess 
he’ll always be the same, or more so.” 

“ That’s a good story, Ben, and you’re all right 
about having a big navy,” said Hosea Dobbs, “ A 
country that hasn’t a navy fit for fighting, is like 
a man without a right hand. Of course it ain’t 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 


193 

necessary for the navy to be fighting all the time, 
any more’n ’tis for a man to keep his fists always 
doubled up and shaking ’em under somebody’s nose; 
but a man who has fists and knows how to use ’em 
when he ought to is respected by other people, and 
they let him alone.” 

It was early in the morning, when the lookout on 
the Constitution reported land in sight, and by the 
time the sun was peeping over the horizon of ocean, 
about half-past six o’clock, Boston Light was in 
sight. The Constitution moved steadily toward 
the harbor entrance, and was well on her way up 
the channel before her presence was discovered by 
any shipping. On account of the war, the shipping 
kept well up into the harbor, inside the defences of 
the forts, so there was little demonstration until the 
frigate was at an anchorage by the city. Then 
the force in the fort waked up to the fact that the 
popular ship, “ Old Ironsides ” was back in port 
again. A salute was fired from the guns of the 
fort; and soon flags appeared here and there, as the 
presence of the frigate was discovered by the people 
on the wharves. 

The frigate came to anchor in about the same 
place where she had been before leaving the harbor 
on her cruise four months before. The sails were 
furled, boats let down and moored to the boat boom, 
and everything was done that indicated an indefinite 
stay in the harbor. Captain Bainbridge had 
finished his cruise with complete success. 


194 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

In due time, Captain Bainbridge went to the 
Navy Yard, and reported officially his arrival and 
the information regarding the cruise. He pre¬ 
sented his report to be sent to Washington, and he 
received the congratulations of the officers at the 
Yard, who were highly delighted at this second 
victory of the frigate, and that she again had em¬ 
phasized her claim to the name, “ Old Ironsides,” 
for her sides did not show more bruises than in the 
engagement with the Guerriere. 

“ We shall see you officially, to-morrow, Captain 
Bainbridge,” was the word given him as he entered 
his boat to return to the frigate, by the officers at 
the Navy Yard, who immediately began to arrange 
their part in the demonstration which they knew 
could not be postponed a day. In fact, similar 
movements were on in Boston, among the City and 
State officials, and the fact that the frigate had won 
two victories in stand-up fights on the ocean, made 
every one more eager to show honors to the ship and 
her commander and crew. 

Thursday, February twenty-eighth was another 
day of triumph for the Constitution and her officers 
and men. Again the incidents and events of the 
reception of Captain Hull, were repeated, with 
Captain Bainbridge as the principal figure. He 
was rowed from the frigate to Long Wharf by a 
picked crew of seamen, all dressed in their best 
uniforms. The captain was in full-dress, a splen¬ 
did figure, and a credit to the ship and the service. 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 195 

State Street, at the foot of which was Long 
Wharf, was ablaze with flags and decorations. 
The shipping in the harbor had put out their flags 
and signals. Decorations and streamers were hung 
across the street, and every window, and even the 
tops of the buildings contained interested and ex¬ 
cited people, all anxious to get a sight of the vic¬ 
torious hero. 

Selectmen headed a delegation of prominent 
citizens who waited on Captain Bainbridge as he 
stepped from the boat, and as he went up to the 
street a salute from cannon marked the movement. 

A notable escort was waiting in the street, under 
command of Major Tilden, with the Boston Light 
Infantry and the Winslow Blues as milita-escort. 
Captain Bainbridge walked to his position in the 
column, attended on his right by Captain John 
Rodgers, his predecessor on the quarter-deck of 
the Constitution in 1805, in the Mediterranean; on 
his left was Brigadier General Welles, and behind 
were Captain Isaac Hull, his immediate predeces¬ 
sor on the Constitution, and Colonel Blake. The 
officers of the frigate, and other military and naval 
men followed, with the citizen committee. 

To the music of the military band, the column 
moved up State Street, and the music was taken up 
by another band on the balcony of the State Bank. 

Captain Bainbridge noted with evidences of 
pleasure the ensign which was suspended across 
the street, bearing the names: “Hull, Jones, De- 


196 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

catur, & Bainbridge,” all of whom had already 
won victories on the ocean without losses of any 
importance. 

At the Exchange Coffee House, a place of 
popular banqueting, the column halted, and the 
principal people entered to present to Captain 
Bainbridge the compliments due him for his victory 
over the Java. 

A few days later, another public dinner was given 
in the same place, to Captain Bainbridge and the 
officers of the Constitution, which was attended 
by Governor Gore, and notable men of the adminis¬ 
tration and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
That evening the guests of the occasion attended 
a performance of “ Macbeth,” at the Federal 
Street Theatre, and as Captain Bainbridge ap¬ 
peared, the audience rose and cheered with great 
enthusiasm, even one of the actors in the scene 
threw his hat into the air and joined in the cheering. 

But the crew of the Constitution were not for¬ 
gotten in the greeting and show of gratitude, for 
on the evening of April 9, a theatre was reserved 
for them with a special programme. 

They were entertained by songs especially writ¬ 
ten, about the Constitution and Captain Bainbridge, 
and this was one of the stanzas: 

“ On Brazil’s coast she ruled the roost 
When Bainbridge was her captain; 

Neat hammocks gave, made of the wave, 

Dead Britons to be wrapped in.” 


BACK AGAIN IN BOSTON 197 

This event was especially pleasing to John Heath, 
and to John Benyon. It was a novelty to John 
Heath, for he never had been inside a theatre; John 
Benyon had, during his life in Boston, so the whole 
programme, the stage performance, the scenery 
and the lighting of the stage, was almost marvelous 
to the country boy. 

The next day, everybody was kept busy getting 
ready to quit the ship, that she might be turned over 
to the Navy Yard workmen again, to make the 
extensive repairs which Captain Bainbridge re¬ 
ported were necessary if the ship was to be in 
proper condition to continue to sweep the seas of 
British frigates. 


CHAPTER X 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 

It was several days before the Navy Yard crew 
were ready to attend to the needs of the Constitution, 
so the frigate lay at anchor of! the north end of 
Boston, and the usual routine duty went on, day 
after day. Captain Bainbridge continued on 
board his ship, and a day or two after the receptions 
were over, he was heard to remark to Lieutenant 
Parker that reports had been received from Boston 
Light, and also from Cape Ann, that several war¬ 
ships had been seen off the coast, and running in 
quite near at times, as if trying to learn something 
about what was going on in Boston harbor. From 
such movements, it was believed that they were 
British ships. 

Every day similar reports were received in 
Boston. Observers on Cape Ann said that the same 
ships were cruising back and forth; running north¬ 
ward one day, until they were only a few miles off 
Cape Ann; and then going about and cruising 
slowly southward. Sometimes only one vessel was 
seen; then two or more were in company, and it 
was not always the same group, which showed that 
there were several ships engaged in blockading the 

198 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 


199 

harbor of Boston. Similar reports came in from 
Cohasset, and from Scituate, where people from 
the First Cliff had seen the ships moving back and 
forth day after day. It was evident that a large 
squadron of vessels was engaged in this work. 

A very accurate report was received from Cohas¬ 
set, of a ship being seen quite near at sunset; while 
a little later she appeared to have worked in closer 
to shore, and anchored. A careful watch was kept, 
and several boats were seen to put off from the ship 
during the early night and come ashore at Hing- 
ham; but it could not be discovered what occurred. 

This report was substantiated later by a fisher¬ 
man from Hingham, who came up to Boston with a 
boat-load of fish. He said, that one night, and it 
proved to have been the same night as reported 
from Cohasset, three boats, well-manned, landed 
not far from his landing. Some of the men came up 
to the road, and there they were met by several 
carts during the next hour, which evidently brought 
supplies. The man got as near to the carts as he 
dared, and he heard some of the conversation. It 
was evident to him, that friends on shore were 
supplying fresh meats and vegetables. 

These persons also were heard to say that the 
Constitution was in Boston harbor, having returned 
from an engagement in which she had defeated and 
destroyed the Java. 

“ What, have those bloody beggars taken another 
of our best frigates? ” a British officer was heard to 


200 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


say. “ We must get that ship if possible.” Then 
one of the persons with the carts said, “ We will let 
you know when she is ready to sail again.” The 
boats returned to the ship, and the friends with the 
carts disappeared into the country somewhere. 

So it was very plain that the British were trying 
to catch “ Old Ironsides ” off the harbor, when they 
could not catch her on the high seas. 

Fortunately for the safety of the frigate, Captain 
Bainbridge was directed to have her ready for re¬ 
pairing. The frigate was to be anchored off the 
Navy Yard, and put out of commission; the crew to 
be transferred to the receiving ship again, until 
further orders. Captain Bainbridge, himself, was 
assigned to take charge of the construction of a line- 
of-battle ship, then under way in building, at Bos¬ 
ton. That evidently was a detail for a year, as fully 
as much time would be needed to complete and fit 
the ship for service; but on account of his wounds, 
the assignment was satisfactory. 

It was not until the last of March that the 
changes and transfers were made, and then the 
Constitution crew found themselves again on the re¬ 
ceiving ship they had left to begin a cruise, about 
four months before. To John Heath, the ship be¬ 
gan to seem like a second home, and he was able to 
show John Benyon around and tell him about life 
there. In order to keep the men well, they were 
employed in the work of stripping the frigate of 
everything movable which would be in the way of 


201 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 

making the needed repairs, and replacing the 
wounded mast. As everything had to be moved in 
boats or on scows, progress was slow. 

Day by day the dismantling of the Constitution 
continued, till she hardly resembled the splendid 
ship which had come up the harbor with flags of 
victory flying. All her topmasts were struck, and 
when nothing was left above decks but her lower 
masts, and the standing rigging, the ship was drawn 
out of the water, on the ship railway to be cleaned 
and repaired below the water-line. The mizzen¬ 
mast was taken out, and a new one was made ready 
to replace it, while the frigate was on the railway 
cradle. 

It was a novel sight, to see the frigate on land, as 
helpless as a fish out of water; but as soon as some 
of the weeds had been scraped from her sides and 
bilges, the beautiful lines of the hull were to be 
seen. It was very evident that Joshua Humphreys, 
the Philadelphia Quaker, who designed the Con¬ 
stitution, knew his business. It was said that he 
advised building her bigger than her class, above 
the water-line, and high enough so as to be able to 
defend herself, and be the equal of a 74-gun ves¬ 
sel, which would have to close its lower-deck gun- 
ports in a seaway; and so be nearer equal to vessels 
out of her class. But under water, Joshua Hum¬ 
phreys planned the hull so carefully, that he gave 
her unusual sailing qualities, as her escape from 
the British squadron in July, 1812 demonstrated. 


202 A SON OF (f 0LD IRONSIDES” 


“ Why, she’s as trim under water as a mackerel! ” 
exclaimed one of her crew, who had been a fisher¬ 
man before enlisting in the navy. 

“ I’ve seen plenty of fish that wasn’t a bit sharper- 
built than she is. No wonder she can sail fast! ” 

The others who had the opportunity to see the 
frigate on the railway, also were impressed by her 
sweet lines forward and aft. It was plain that she 
entered and left the water with great ease, and did 
not leave much wake. 

It was after this incident of the observation of 
the frigate’s under-body, that several of her crew 
were talking together, and discovering in her beauti¬ 
ful lines reasons for her sailing qualities, when 
Sam Bunting, the old quartermaster, asked: “ Did 
any of you ever hear how Captain Hull raced the 
Constitution against a British frigate, in the West 
Indies, in a friendly race? ” 

“ Never did, Sam,” answered one. 

“ Might have; but it was so long ago I’ve for¬ 
gotten it; so get your bearings, Sam, and then make 
sail,” said another. 

Bunting found himself a seat, and “ came to 
anchor,” as he said, and then told the story, as he 
said it had been told to him, for he was not on the 
Constitution at that time; it having been when the 
United States ships were watching for French 
privateers in the West Indies in 1800. 

“ It was when the Constitution was on the San 
Domingo station, in the winter of 1799 and 1800. 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 


203 

Captain Silas Talbot was commander, and Isaac 
Hull was his first lieutenant. There were a good 
many British warships cruisin’ around the islands, 
for a good many of them were owned by England, 
and they were keeping watch, for fear some of ’em 
might up-anchor and sail into either French or 
Yankee hands. 

“ The British officers were very critical of our 
warships, because they was different from theirs. 
They said, they carried too many heavy guns. 
They thought twenty-four pounders were too big, 
and that eighteens were big enough. Then they 
said our ships were too big and beamy to be good 
sailers—Guess they never had a look at ‘ Old Iron¬ 
sides’s ’ bottom, or they’d talked different—They 
had a lot of fun laughing at our navy ships but we 
kept right about our business. The Constitution 
didn’t get any Frenchmen, but the Constellation 
did considerable business: she got one, and just 
missed getting another. 

“While cruising to windward of the island, one 
day, a strange sail was sighted, which proved to be 
a frigate, the captain of which was an acquaintance 
of Captain Talbot. The two ships cruised along 
together, and the British captain told Captain 
Talbot, that while he liked the looks of his ship, he 
thought his own ship could beat him on a wind. 
They talked together about it, and by and by the 
British captain told Captain Talbot, that while he 
was at Madeira on his way out, he had taken on 




204 a SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

board a few casks of good wine, for his table, and it 
was worth a certain sum in money. He was going 
in to port to refit and clean his ship, which was 
a little foul; but after that, if he could meet the 
Constitution again on that station, he would like to 
have a trial of speed between the two ships, the 
loser to pay a barrel of wine, or its value in money. 
Captain Talbot agreed to the terms, and the ships 
parted. 

“ According to agreement, the two frigates 
picked up each other. The Britisher was spick and 
span; sides painted, bottom cleaned, and fit as a 
fiddle. The two captains met and arranged the 
race, and kept along that night so as to start it the 
next morning. 

“ Captain Talbot was a good captain, and he 
wasn’t afraid of any enemy that ever manned a ship; 
he could sail a ship, too, but when it came to fancy 
work, like racin’ for points, he didn’t claim to care 
for it. 

“ So, in this case, he talked it over with Isaac, and 
Isaac said to take the bet. 

“‘Will you sail the ship, in the race?’ asked 
Captain Talbot. 

“ ‘ I sure will, and I can,’ says Isaac. 

“ So Captain Talbot was ready to have the race; 
though he wa’n’t real crazy about it; though his 
officers were. You see, Captain Talbot was an old- 
fashioned sailor, and didn’t have much use for a 
frigate, except for a fighting ship. The Britisher 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 205 

was in first-class trim, and old Captain Talbot was 
a little afeared she’d outfoot the Constitution; how¬ 
ever, he was willing to let Hull have full command 
of the frigate for the day. 

“ Now Isaac Hull had a reputation, even then, 
of being a good seaman. He’d commanded 
merchantmen before he joined the navy. He was 
captain of a ship when he was nineteen years old, 
and had been at it ever since. He knew how to sail 
a square-rigged ship in almost any kind of weather. 
That night he talked to the crew, and got ’em 
all keyed up, so the next morning, at sunrise, each 
ship fired a gun, and made sail on a bowline. 

“ All day long the two ships kept at it, turning 
to windward on short tacks, and trying every known 
trick to gain distance. Captain Hull had both 
watches on deck all day, keeping them handy to the 
braces; and from time to time he made ’em take in 
or make sail, and occasionally set stunsails. The 
sea was running easy, and on some tacks he sent 
all the crew to windward, in order to keep the 
frigate on as even a keel as possible, and catch all 
the wind. So he kept ’em running all day, when 
they wa’n’t going aloft or mannin’ the braces, or 
trying to get a nap on deck. 

“ That’s the way they went it, until sunset; and 
when the sun went below the horizon, Captain Hull 
fired a gun, and so did the Britisher. She was just 
hull-down dead to leeward, the Constitution having 
gained so much on her during the eleven hours or 


206 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES'' 


more they were racing. Hull had driven the Con¬ 
stitution so hard that she had eat the Britisher out 
of the wind completely. 

“ As soon as the race was off, the Constitution put 
up her helm, and squared away for the other ship, 
and a little after dark they were close together. 
The Britisher being to leeward rounded to, and the 
Constitution come under her lee, and threw her 
maintopsail against the mast. 

“ The captain of the Britisher hailed, and said, 
‘ Well done, Constitution! I am sending a boat 
aboard.’ 

“ Sure enough. A boat came over, with the 
English captain in it, and his cask of wine. He 
come on deck, and the cask was slung overside, and 
he complimented Captain Talbot on the way he 
sailed his ship. But Talbot was fair. He told him 
that the credit was due to his first lieutenant, and he 
introduced Lieutenant Hull, who told the English 
captain, that the Constitution could beat any ship 
afloat, of her class, in any game they might want to 
play. And she done it, too, since then, and we’ve 
seen it done twice. I tell ye, boys; the old ship is 
worth sticking to. Just look at her, over there! 
Ain’t them pretty lines? Course she can race. 
She never run away from a fight, unless there was 
so many on the other side to make it unfair; and 
she’ll run into a fight faster than you can say ‘ knife ’. 

“ After that race the whole crew was mightily 
pleased, and the watch below didn’t care a bit at 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 207 

being cheated out of their sleep. The fact that 
they hadn’t had any dinner didn’t trouble them, 
neither. But Captain Talbot was so tickled over 
winnin’ that race, that he ordered the whole crew to 
4 splice the main-brace,’ and they was a happy crew, 
at that. 

“ They do say, that that cask was empty almost as 
soon as the crew had had their extra ration of 
spirits.” 

“ That is a mighty good story, Sam,” remarked 
one of the listeners, “ but you ought to have telled 
it on board ship, when there’s a new crew of land¬ 
lubbers to be licked into shape. Such critters ought 
to know what kind of captains £ Old Ironsides ’ has 
been in the habit of carryin’ on her quarter-deck. 
Our captains ain’t no fuss-and-feathers sort of men; 
they’re real sailors, and real fighters, too. I don’t 
know what kind of a captain she’ll get next, since 
Captain Bainbridge ain’t goin’ out in her again. 
He’s goin’ to have a seventy-four’s soon as he gets 
her built. Anyway, I’ll bet he’ll be another of the 
sail-in-and-fight-an’-lick-’em captains. If so, I 
want to go with him.” 

“ That’s good gospel, lad,” said another seaman, 
“ but the question afore the meetin’-house just now, 
is: who’s going to the Lakes? I hear that the crew 
of 1 Old Ironsides ’ is to be broken up, and sent 
’most anywhere, where’s there’s fightin’.” 

“ When is the transfer to the Lakes to be made? ” 
inquired one of the seamen. 


208 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES'' 


“ Nobody knows,” replied Bunting, “ All I’ve 
heard was that since there wasn’t anything for us to 
do aboard the frigate, here; that we must be kept 
busy, and Chauncey needs men; and they’re fitting 
out a fleet on Lake Champlain, and another on Lake 
Erie, so it looks as if the United States was going to 
slap John Bull in the stern, if he can’t be hit in the 
face; so there will have to be some real sailors to 
show them fresh-water mud-larks how to handle a 
ship with cannon on her, and how to handle the 
cannon in a fight. If anybody can, the Constitution 
boys are the ones-” 

“ Right you are, Sam. We’re the boys to fire 
the guns straight. Hooray for the Great Lakes! ” 
cried out an over-enthusiastic member of the crew, 
and others joined in the cheer. 

“ I think I shall go with the others to the Lakes,” 
said John Heath, to John Benyon, one night as they 
were going below with their hammocks, “ That is, if 
they will take me. I volunteered with the others, 
and the lieutenant didn’t say I couldn’t go; and 
Quartermaster Bunting told me, several days ago, 
that they would want powder-boys as well as sea¬ 
men.” 

“ What do you want to go for? ” replied Benyon, 
“ You’ll only get shot, and likely as not, get killed. 
Why don’t you stay here, until the Constitution 
goes out again; they’ll want you just as much then.” 

“ I’d like to stay here,” said John, “ but you see, 
I haven’t any place to go. I have no home to go 



ON THE WAY TO ERIE 209 

to. The ship is the only home I’ve got; so when 
she’s laid up, I’ve got to do something or go some¬ 
where, and the only thing I can do, is to go to the 
Lakes, with the crowd. What are you goin’ to 
do?” 

“ Well,” said Benyon, “ I think as soon as I’m 
discharged, I’ll go home. My folks will be mighty 
glad to see me, I know. They didn’t want me to 
ship very much, in the first place; but now I’ve been 
on a cruise, and in a big fight, and didn’t get hurt; 
and now I’m back in Boston, I want to go home. I 
think, too, that perhaps I’ll go to school again, for 
a while. I’ll be a big fellow, I tell you, among 
the other boys. A sailor on ‘ Old Ironsides ’, who 
has been in a fight at sea with a British ship, and 
seen her beaten; and then, come back safe and 
sound; oh, I tell you, they’ll think I’m some man. 
Then, too, it will be a good thing for the school 
to have a returned man-o’-war’s-man as one of the 
scholars.” 

“ That will be nice,” said John. “I think I 
should like to go to school. I never went to school, 
much, after my father died, and we went to live 
at the Poor Farm. I had to work all the time, and 
so I don’t know much. But the frigate’s got to be 
my school, and I want to be a man-o’-war’s-man as 
long as I live, so I must keep in the navy.” 

“ Well, Johnnie, I guess you’re right, and I hope 
you’ll do well; but I still think I’ll go home. I 
think, sometimes, I should like to know how to build 


Jio A SON OF u OLD IRONSIDES " 

ships. I’ve seen the inside of one, and know some 
of how she works, so I guess I could learn how to 
build them. If I get sick of going to school, I’ll 
quit and learn to be a ship-carpenter. But any¬ 
way, if you go to the Lakes, and come back alive, you 
may not be away very long; and you’ll want to come 
back here, won’t you, so as to see when the Constitu¬ 
tion goes to sea again. I guess, from what I heard 
some sailors say, it will be some time before she is 
fit to go to sea again.” 

“ Yes,” replied John, “ I want to go on her next 
time she goes out, if I can get back in time.” 

“ Well, when you do,” said Benyon, “ you find 
me. You know where I live, and you come right 
to my house, and I’ll be awfully glad to see you 
again. Perhaps by that time, I may want to go 
back again. Anyway, you come and see me, and 
we’ll talk it over.” And saying this, Benyon hung 
his hammock, as John already had done, and the 
two boys, who had become friends so suddenly, 
turned in to sleep, thinking lightly of the fact that 
almost as suddenly their paths were to separate. 
But boys do not worry much over things which to 
them are but trifling incidents of the day, and they 
get on much better for it. These two boys dropped 
off to sleep like healthy youths. 

The work of dismantling the frigate required 
some time, and the crew of the Constitution were 
kept quite busy on the task. It was necessary to 
remove all the furnishings of the cabin and ward- 



ON THE WAY TO ERIE 


21 I 


room; all the movable equipment; the ammunition; 
and there was much care required, in taking out all 
the powder cartridges, and storing them in the 
shore magazine. No man was allowed to smoke 
while on duty, but in spite of the regulation, one 
day a man was caught lighting his pipe at a time 
when there was a delay in the work. The officer in 
charge of the gang of workers ordered him under 
arrest, and turned him over to the marine guard, 
who put him in the prison, and it was some days 
before he was returned to duty, and then he just 
escaped a flogging, but was fined a month’s pay. 
After that incident, no one cared to follow his 
example. 

An all-absorbing subject of conversation among 
the men from the Constitution was the proposed 
expedition to the Great Lakes. Some of the men 
hardly knew where the Lakes were, or how they 
were reached, but they were interested in the plan 
of going there. After many days, news came of 
Captain Chauncey’s attack on York, Canada, in 
which he burned a vessel on the stocks; captured 
a fourteen-gun schooner and a large quantity of 
naval and military stores, and returned to Sackett’s 
Harbor with a small loss, although the army suf¬ 
fered heavily in their attack on the fort. Then, 
too, the men heard of the arrival at Montreal of 
Captain Yeo, from England, with a number of 
officers and about four hundred and fifty picked 
seamen, for service on the Lakes. 


212 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


That interested the Constitution men, and the 
sentiment among them was that they were needed to 
offset the British seamen. 

After the work on the Constitution had reached 
a point where so many men were not needed, dis¬ 
charges were given to those seamen whose time was 
expiring, unless they indicated a desire to continue 
in the service, with the possibility of being trans¬ 
ferred to duty on the Great Lakes; and that possi¬ 
bility was told to them as being very probable. A 
number of the men who were discharged, were 
satisfied to quit the service, and among them was 
John Benyon, who intended, as he had told John 
Heath, to go home for the summer, anyway, and 
perhaps go to school another winter, and then work 
in a shipyard. 

The day that John Benyon was given his dis¬ 
charge papers, he said good-by to John Heath with 
much regret, for the two boys had become fast 
friends. 

One morning, early in July, the whole company 
of the receiving ship was mustered on deck, and 
volunteers were called for to go to service on the 
Great Lakes. The men were told that the work 
would be hard and dangerous; not like service on a 
frigate, as the vessels on the Lakes were smaller, 
and not intended for long cruises. Those men who 
would volunteer would receive a month’s extra pay, 
in advance, and be ready to leave by or before July 
twentieth. A week’s shore leave would be allowed, 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 213 

beginning the next Monday, all to report back, by 
Sunday night, at eight o’clock. 

The men did not take to the offer immediately. 
Many hoped that they could stay in Boston until 
“ Old Ironsides ” was ready for another cruise, 
when they wished to go on her. They thought if 
they went elsewhere, they might lose that chance. 

“ Come, come,” said the officer in command of 
the deck, “ we need one hundred good men and boys 
for this duty. Any one who will volunteer, line up 
on Quartermaster Bunting.” The quartermaster 
already had taken a position on the starboard side 
of the deck, and was waiting for the men. 

This time the response was better; the men and 
boys, among whom was John Heath, stepped out, 
and took their places in line to the left of Bunting. 
The line kept growing, until the officer in charge, 
who was walking down in front, called out, 
“ Halt.” 

He verified the count. There were just ninety 
men and boys in the line. 

“ Stand at ease, men,” he said. Then speaking 
again to the crew of the ship, he said, 

“ There are just ten places left. Who will take 
them? ” 

“ Here, sir.” “ I will.” “ Take me, sir, please,” 
and other expressions were heard, as more men 
came forward, and in a few minutes the line had 
lengthened to the limit. Then the officer in charge 
dismissed the rest of the crew, and stepping out in 


214 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

front of the line of seamen, informed them that as 
soon as their names were taken, they would be con¬ 
sidered a special detail for the lake-service. That 
they would report each day at certain hours for 
special drill and instruction, the remainder of the 
week. The following week would be their leave 
week, and then all preparations would be com¬ 
pleted for their dispatch to Oswego, where they 
would be assigned to the vessels in the service. 

As soon as the details of enrollment were com¬ 
pleted, the company, now to be known as “ Ship’s 
Company, Number i,” was dismissed. John 
Heath was happy to find that he had been included 
in the company, and he seemed to grow an inch, 
stimulated by his delight and ambitions. 

That afternoon, the company was assembled, by 
Quartermaster Bunting, who was to be in command. 
A sergeant of marines was detailed to drill them in 
military formations, and ways of keeping together, 
by squads, and answering roll-calls. He also drilled 
them in marching in a column of four men abreast; 
changing from a column to a line, and back to a 
column. 

For the rest of the week, these drills were held, 
as well as drills at guns, in order to train those men 
who had been shipped from merchant service and 
elsewhere, and had no knowledge of gun-drill. 
Before the week was out, the gun-companies were 
working very well. 

The next week was shore-leave, and most of the 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 215 

men of the company took advantage of the oppor¬ 
tunity to visit their homes, if near enough, or spent 
their time in the city. At the end of their liberty 
they began to come back, and Sunday saw most of 
them on the ship before sundown. Several men 
were missing; so the commanding officer sent a 
squad of marines into the city, to visit the sailor 
boarding-places, and find the missing men. Luck¬ 
ily, they returned with them all, but they were a 
good deal the worse for their week’s liberty. John 
Heath, not having anywhere to go for the week, 
went into the city each day, and visited the wharves, 
to see if he might find the Happy Day, the skipper 
of which had been so good to him; but he was not 
successful. Quartermaster Bunting finding out that 
John could write fairly well (better than the 
quartermaster could, anyway) gave him some writ¬ 
ing to do, on the lists of the men and their property, 
so John learned something else that was valuable 
to him. 

On the evening of July nineteenth, the “ Ship’s 
Company, Number 1,” was informed that they 
would leave the ship the next morning at eight 
bells, and begin the journey to Oswego. That eve¬ 
ning was spent in overhauling their kits and seeing 
that their property was in shape for the long, hard 
land-voyage. 

The next morning, directly after mess, the com¬ 
pany was assembled and under command of Quar¬ 
termaster Bunting, with the captains of the gun- 


216 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


crews to assist, marched from the receiving ship 
to the wharf and the street. Then they marched 
to the place where five great six-horse wagons were 
waiting to carry the men, and another wagon to 
carry their baggage. In these wagons they were 
to go to New York. 

With plenty of shouting and laughter, the wagons 
were loaded with twenty seamen in each. The 
wagon in which was carried their bags and some 
provisions, was called “ The hammock nettings,” 
and the method of loading was carried out in much 
the same way the men stowed their hammocks when 
on board ship. Almost two gun-crews were in each 
of the other wagons, and under the direction of the 
gun captains they were loaded promptly. As soon 
as all were on board, Quartermaster Bunting gave 
the command to start, and with such remarks as: 
“ Heave up the anchor! ” “ Hoist the main top- 

s’l.” “ What’s the course, helmsman? ” “Where 

away, skipper?” and other pertinent and imper¬ 
tinent sayings, the train of wagons headed out of 
Boston, on the road to Providence. 

It was necessary, at times, when long hills were 
encountered, to have the men get out of the wagons, 
and walk up the hill, thereby relieving the horses, 
and giving the men an opportunity to change their 
positions. This was always accomplished with 
much expression of sailor-wit: “ We must get out 
and tow,” remarked one, and as he was climbing 
out he was given a vigorous push by a mate, who 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 217 

immediately yelled, “ Man overboard!” and 
jumped after him. “ All’s lost; every one for him¬ 
self! ” cried another, and as fast as they could the 
merry fellows emptied the wagon. 

At noon it was necessary to stop, and rest and feed 
the horses, and the rations were issued to the men, 
sufficient for a lunch. Then after an hour, up and 
away. Providence was reached in time to secure 
a place to pass the night, in a warehouse, where the 
party made themselves as comfortable as possible 
for the short night, being up early and on their way 
the next morning. 

In this manner, the “ land voyage ” as they called 
it, progressed, until the party reached New York, 
and there they were taken to a vessel on the Hudson 
river, which left the wharf as soon as the seamen 
were on board, with their property. 

The schooner caught a favoring wind, and headed 
up the river; and now the seamen felt a little more 
at home. 

“Jack,” said one to his mate, “I got terrible 
seasick in that wagon, but now I begin to feel better, 
since I am on a firm deck.” 

“ Right you are, Tom. I wondered what was the 
trouble with me, and I didn’t know. Now I under¬ 
stand. I had hard work to keep my cargo from 
shifting, that blasted cart jumped around so much. 
But this is just right.” 

The trip, so far, had been as wonderful to 
John Heath as any of his other experiences. Where 


218 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


the cruising at sea was monotonous, because there 
was no change in the scenery; in this case he had 
ridden through a beautiful country; rolling hills, 
with fields and little villages tucked away in pleas¬ 
ant locations. Rivers and large towns varied the 
scenes, and when the party reached the city of New 
York, it was a new world to John. He did not 
ask many questions, for the sailors did not know 
much more about the route than did he; and if he 
did ask about something he observed, he was liable 
to be told some remarkable description that the man 
made up for the occasion. He kept his eyes and 
ears open, and his mouth shut, and thereby acquired 
considerable information during the trip. 

The voyage up the Hudson consumed the rest of 
the day, and all night, but it being a beautiful warm 
evening, the seamen turned in on deck. “ It’s my 
watch on deck, to-night,” remarked one, “ and I’m 
going to turn in, under the windward side, and I 
don’t wish to be called before four bells in the morn¬ 
ing.” And he went off with his blanket to find a 
cozy corner. Others did the same, and before it 
was dark, the whole party was ready for the night. 

The next forenoon, found the schooner in the 
mouth of the Mohawk river, up which it went as 
far as there was water enough. At last a landing 
was made at a small village, where the party was to 
leave the vessel, to take to batteaux, long and large 
boats of peculiar type; made to draw little water, 
and sharp at each end, so as to be moved forward 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 219 

or astern easily, without turning around. They 
were rowed by long oars, and the sailors of the 
Constitution were given an opportunity to show 
their ability in the art, and to learn, if they did not 
know it. One man stood in the stern and steered 
the batteau with an oar, while two men on each side 
rowed. As there were enough men in each boat, 
they worked in reliefs, and so the progress up the 
river was steady and sometimes rapid. In this way 
each day brought the seamen nearer to their desti¬ 
nation on Lake Ontario. 

The batteau party made such good progress, 
that they were able to get to Little Falls, where a 
portage around the falls was made, earlier than they 
expected. That night they made a camp at the head 
of Woods Creek, and added more experiences to 
their list. 

After their work was done; all the baggage 
brought around, and everything ready for a start 
down the river the next morning, the men built 
several camp fires, and after their supper, sat and 
lay in the warm comfort. The darkness of the 
forest, and the moonlight over all, made it a pleas¬ 
ure to rest in such surroundings. 

“ I wonder how many of you swabs ever heard of 
how Isaac Hull cut out the Sandwich in Port Plate 
harbor, San Domingo?” asked Bill Sisson, as the 
Constitution men gathered about the camp fire, af¬ 
ter their supper, for a rest and a smoke before turn¬ 
ing in. No one answered, at first; and then one 


220 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


man said, “ I guess, Bill, we don’t know much about 
that affair. You’re the only man here who sailed 
with Isaac Hull in the early days, so I guess you 
better tell us. Heave ahead, and there won’t any 
of us cut across your hawse.” 

Having been given a clear course, Sisson lit his 
pipe, and then began his yarn. 

“ It was while the Constitution was cruising in 
the West Indies during the war with France, some¬ 
where about 1800, I believe. Captain Silas Tal¬ 
bot was commander, with Isaac Hull as his first 
lieutenant. Captain Talbot had a lot of confidence 
in Isaac Hull, and you know how he let him sail 
the frigate in a race against a British frigate, and 
beat her; so when he had any work on hand that 
wanted an officer who could do anything, and put 
it through to the finish, he picked Hull. 

“ Well, the Constitution was cruising off and on 
around San Domingo, and she ran down toward 
Port Plate, which was a small village, at the head 
of a harbor. It was in the afternoon, so Captain 
Talbot could get a peek into the harbor, and he 
could see a vessel in there, which he knew to be the 
Sandwich, once a British ship, but then a French 
letter-of-marque, which was doing blockade-run¬ 
ning to France, with a cargo of coffee, and was ly¬ 
ing safe under the guns of the fort in the harbor. 
I guess he saw enough to satisfy him, for he put the 
ship about and worked away from the harbor, but 
he’d set the people of Port Plate all on fire, for they 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 


221 


remembered how the Constellation had captured 
the Insurgent, and a little while before, had beaten 
the Vengeance, so they were afraid she had come 
back again, looking for the Sandwich, so they were 
proper scared, and they sent soldiers on board the 
ship, and were very active in the fort; for the ship 
off shore had furled her courses and hove to, as if 
she was reconnoitering the harbor. But presently 
she put about and set her courses again, and in a 
few minutes was ought of sight, in the twilight. 

“ The Port Platians felt better when they saw 
the strange ship go off, though they talked about 
‘ Truxtum ’ as if he was the Devil himself. As it 
grew darker, and there was no moon, the people 
felt more safe, and they went to bed quite contented, 
because they had escaped a visit from an American 
frigate. But they didn’t know what was happen¬ 
ing off shore, there, in the gloom. They didn’t 
know that as soon as it was real dark, that strange 
frigate came about and headed back for the harbor, 
under full sail, and came down closer than she was 
in the afternoon. But she did, and then Captain 
Talbot said to Lieutenant Hull, ‘ Now’s your time. 
Have the second cutter manned, sir, and come to 
me for further orders.’ Then looking at the com¬ 
pass, and seeing what the weather was, he went 
below. 

“ Pretty soon, there came a rap at the door of 
the cabin. ‘ Come in,’ he says, and then in came 
Lieutenant Hull with his sword on and a pistol in 


222 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


his belt. ‘ What! ’ said he, ‘ are you ready so soon? 7 
‘ All ready, sir,’ says Hull. 

“ ‘ Your work to-night, Mister Hull, is to enter 
the harbor of Port Plate, without being discovered; 
find out whether the vessel we saw lying under the 
guns of the fort is the Sandwich, and report back 
to me.’ 

“ * How shall I know what ship she is, without 
Boarding her, sir? ’ 

“ ‘ You will know that she is the Sandwich, if she 
has black stripes around her masts, and by the 
shortness of her bowsprit. Make haste, sir, as I 
have other work for you.’ 

“ Hull went on deck; gave the necessary orders 
to the officer of the deck; wrapped himself in his 
boat-cloak, and took his place in the stern sheets of 
the cutter. 

“ ‘ Shove off, men. Let fall. Pull cheerily, my 
boys,’ were the orders he gave, and the cutter dis¬ 
appeared into the darkness, in the direction of Port 
Plate harbor; and that was all the crew of the Con¬ 
stitution saw of him for two solid hours. 

“ The sky began to clear, and the stars were show¬ 
ing, when the sentry at the gangway of the frigate 
caught the sound of oars. 

“ ‘ Boat ahoy! ’ he challenged, and a voice in the 
boat answered, ‘ Aye, aye,’ and he knew that it 
probably was Lieutenant Hull coming back. The 
boat stopped at the ladder, and the lieutenant came 
on deck. ‘ It is the Sandwich, sir,’ he said. 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 


223 


“ ‘ Are you certain? ’ asked the captain. 

“ ‘ I am, sir; for I lay directly under the stern, 
and heard, through the open windows of the cabin, 
her officers congratulating themselves on the de¬ 
parture of the Constellation, for that was what they 
thought this ship to be. Besides, I noticed her 
masts and bowsprit, as we passed, and saw them to 
be as you described.’ 

“ ‘ I’ll have her! ’ exclaimed the captain. ‘ About 
ship, sir! Set all the studding sails! ’ 

“ Now the Constitution was too big to run into 
the harbor safely, but while cruising along the 
coast of the island, Captain Talbot had seized an 
American sloop, Sally, which had been selling sup¬ 
plies to the enemy, and a little while before had 
left Port Plate with the intention of returning in 
a few days. Here was a chance to make use of 
her to an advantage. She had been allowed to 
cruise among the forts, reporting to the Constitu¬ 
tion all her movements. 

“With all sails set, the Constitution was stand¬ 
ing out to sea, in the intention of making the Port 
Plate people think she was gone for good, and dur¬ 
ing the night she ran the island out of sight. Early 
the next morning, the lookout reported a sail in 
sight, on the lee bow. 

“ ‘ Can you make her out? ’ asked the officer of 
the deck. 

“ 1 She is a sloop, sir; and shows American 
colors.’ 


224 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

“ ‘Hoist our ensign,’ ordered the lieutenant. 

“ Captain Talbot had come on deck at the first 
hail, and when he saw the sloop to leeward, he said, 
‘ Ah, there comes the Sally, and she’s right in the 
nick of time. Mr. Hull, make a signal for her to 
run alongside and speak us; we have work for her 
to do helping us.’ 

“ Pretty soon, the Sally was alongside. Captain 
Talbot had her crew come on board the Constitu¬ 
tion, and sent Lieutenant Hull, with a picked party 
of seamen, on board; and Captain Carmick with a 
big squad of marines. Then the Sally was headed 
for Port Plate, while the Constitution worked off 
and on just out of sight. Hull so timed his move¬ 
ments as to go into the harbor about noon, the next 
day, which was Sunday, so most of the Frenchmen 
were ashore keeping holiday. The Sally was jog¬ 
ging along, like the decent little sloop she was, when 
‘ bang,’ went a gun from somewhere, and a shot 
whistled over the sloop. On looking where the 
shot came from, a big ship was seen, so near it was 
no use trying to run away. The Sally rounded to, 
and the ship, which was a Britisher come up along¬ 
side, and sent a boat aboard. Now, you know we 
weren’t at war with England then, but the British 
were after French privateers and French merchant¬ 
men, so when the officer came on the deck of the 
sloop, his eyes stuck out at seeing ninety armed men, 
and naval officers in uniform in charge. He de¬ 
manded an explanation and Hull told him what they 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 225 

were up to. That was plain enough, and all right; 
but the British officer was disappointed because 
his own ship was waiting off the coast, watching 
the Sandwich, waiting till she got her sails up again, 
when they were going to send a party in, and cut 
her out. The British ship was too late, and Hull 
had the weather gauge of them, and did not intend 
to be beat out of his prize, so the officer went back 
to his ship, and they let the Sally go on with her 
scheme. 

“ Hull kept on into the harbor, with most of his 
crew hid under the bulwarks, making straight for 
the Sandwich which lay under the fort, her broad¬ 
side bearing on the harbor entrance. Hull had 
rigged a kedge anchor over the stern, ready to cut 
loose, and the Sally staggered along, in a lubberly 
fashion, as if she was short-handed and couldn’t sail 
straight. 

“ Then just as the sloop was making into the bow 
of the Sandwich Hull said to his men, in a low tone, 
‘ Stand by to board! ’ 

“ ‘ You’ll be afoul of us! ’ said an officer on the 
Sandwich. 

“ ‘1 guess I shall,’ remarked Hull, and slam- 
bang, the sloop rammed against the side of the ship, 
and did foul it, sure enough. 

“ 1 Let go that kedge! ’ yelled Hull, “ Boarders, 
away!” and right overside he went, grabbing a 
cutlass from a sailor, as he jumped; and followed 
by the boarding party. The crew of the Sandwich 


226 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


was so surprised and scart, that they dropped every¬ 
thing, and gave up without anybody being hurt. 

“ Just about the same time, Captain Carmick was 
getting away in the boats, with his marines, and they 
landed in the fort, and drove out the Spaniards as 
easy as Hull took the ship, and then they spiked the 
guns in the battery commanding the harbor, and 
returned to the Sandwich without losing a man. 
They couldn’t stay in the battery, and so the Span¬ 
iards came back, and had a job trying to unspike 
the guns, but it took them so long they were help¬ 
less. 

“ Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hull had another job 
on his hands. The Sandwich had been stripped to 
a girt line, by the Frenchmen, as a measure of pre¬ 
caution against seizure, while she was taking in 
cargo; and her guns had been stowed in the hold, 
but Hull set his crew to work, just as he always did, 
and they swayed up topmasts and yards, and bent 
sails; and hove up the guns and made them fast in 
their places, and by sunset he had everything ship¬ 
shape, even to her royals crossed. Then he scaled 
the guns, just to show they were ready for use, and 
with his crew at quarters, he sailed the Sandwich 
out of the harbor, while the crazy Spaniards were 
firing from what few guns they had unspiked, but 
didn’t hit anything. 

“ Hull sailed right out, and took a course in the 
direction he expected to find the Constitution, and 
just as the night was coming down fast, as you know 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 227 

it does in the tropics, the watch on the Constitution 
hailed a ship and a sloop, that were bearing down 
on the frigate. 

“ ‘ What ship is that? ’ shouted the officer of the 
deck. 

“ ‘ The United States ship Talbot; Isaac Hull, 
commander,’ was Hull’s answer, as his ship rounded 
to, near enough to be distinguished by the officers 
of the frigate. 

“ ‘ By Heavens, it’s Hull! ’ said Captain Talbot. 
‘ He’s done a cool job, well! ’ 

“ The next thing to do, was to put the crew of the 
Sally back on board; and Captain Talbot paid them 
handsomely for their part. Then the Constitution 
and her prize cracked on sail, and headed away 
toward Jamaica.” 

“ That was a smart piece of business, Bill, and 
you told the story well,” remarked one of his audi¬ 
ence. “ You ought to be promoted for that, and if 
the rest of this party, which ain’t asleep, is agreed, 
I’ll appoint you 1 powder-monkey ’ for the rest of 
this v’yage.” 

This sally was received with shouts of laughter, 
and Sisson took it in good part, grinning as his mates 
expressed their pleasure and amusement. 

“ But that is not all the story,” said Sisson. 
“ There was some more that lasted some time. The 
whole affair was wrong. We was not at war with 
France, exactly; and we wasn’t with Spain, anyway; 
so as long as Hull had invaded a friendly port and 


228 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


cut out that ship, it was returned, and it took all the 
other prize-money that the Constitution made that 
cruise, to pay the damages. However, it was a 
smart job, and done just as Isaac Hull could do 
things.” 

In such ways as this, the evenings in the woods, 
on the way, were spent. From Woods Creek, their 
route lay over a portage to Oneida Lake, and there 
they found good boating, and into Oswego river, 
which brought the party to the town of Oswego, on 
Lake Ontario. After a rest of a day there, they 
were pushed on, for Captain Perry at Erie was in 
need of more sailors. He had a squadron of vessels 
ready to meet the British squadron, but he lacked 
men, particularly trained men. He had crews 
made up of farmers, boys, and some soldiers; but 
he needed man-o’-war’s-men, and this party from 
the frigate Constitution would be just the thing to 
scatter through his squadron, to show the crews how 
it was done on the ocean, when facing British ships 
alone. 

So another two days were spent on the road from 
Oswego to Niagara, at the head of Lake Erie. 

The Constitution men reached Niagara August 
third, where Quartermaster Bunting, with com¬ 
mendable pride, reported to Lieutenant Jesse D. 
Elliott, and turned over his detail. Bunting had 
succeeded in bringing his command through from 
Boston, after a long and tiresome journey; but he 
brought them all in, and all were well. 


/ 


ON THE WAY TO ERIE 


229 

Lieutenant Elliott complimented Quartermaster 
Bunting on his success, and expressed his pleasure 
at having such a splendid lot of men with them, 
when they were needed. He told them, that their 
journey was not complete, nor would it be until they 
were at Erie, where they would join Captain Perry’s 
command. That they would start on the last leg 
of the journey, the next day, by boat, which would 
give them some chance to rest. 

The next morning they were aboard a schooner, 
which got away, and headed down the lake for Erie. 


CHAPTER XI 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 

It was the tenth of August, when the detail from 
Boston arrived at Erie. Lieutenant Jesse D. El¬ 
liott, was in command, with several junior officers, 
and seamen to make the number of the whole party 
one hundred and twenty. They were a tired lot 
when they reached the Navy Yard, but the way in 
which they were received relieved their weariness. 
The seamen of the American fleet who were off-duty 
saw the detail come marching into the yard, by way 
of the gate where the ship-timbers and supplies 
were brought in. A part of the fleet assembled off 
the yard had been built on the shore from timbers 
cut in the forests near by; and it often happened 
that trees growing in the forest in the morning, were 
cut, hauled, shaped into ship-timber, and built into 
the frame of a vessel on the stocks before nightfall 
stopped work in the yard. This was due to the 
tireless energy of Lieutenant Oliver Hazard Perry 
of the United States Navy, a native of Rhode Is¬ 
land, aided by Captain David Dobbins, and ship¬ 
wright Noah Brown, of New York. 

As Lieutenant Elliott’s column marched into the 


230 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 231 

yard, cheers rolled up from the throats of the crowd 
of sailors and workmen. 

There they halted, and Lieutenant Elliott went 
to report their arrival to Lieutenant Perry. 

While the men were waiting, they dropped their 
bags and sat down to rest. It had been a long, tire¬ 
some march, and they were glad enough that they 
had reached the end of it. To feel again a ship’s 
deck under their feet would be a luxury they all 
craved. The sailors in the yard crowded around 
and began to ask questions. 

“ Where you from, shipmate? ” was the first ques¬ 
tion from most of them; and the proud answer 
generally was: “ We’re off ‘Old Ironsides’; and 
from Boston.” 

This report quickly spread, and soon the detail 
from Boston was being referred to as “ The Iron¬ 
sides,” and they were not displeased at the nick¬ 
name. 

Several seamen found men they had known be¬ 
fore, having been shipmates on the Atlantic ocean, 
the men at the Navy Yard having come to the Lakes 
at an earlier date. In a short time John began to 
feel quite at home, very much as if he were still 
at the Boston yard, where he had been held after 
leaving the Constitution. 

It was not long before Lieutenant Elliott re¬ 
turned, and directed the men to be marched into 
one of the woodshed buildings. 

“ Plain quarters, men,” said he. “ Not much like 


232 A SON OF u OLD IRONSIDES " 

the ’tween-decks of 1 Old Ironsides/ but you’ll have 
to make the best of it until you are assigned to a 
ship.” 

After looking about the yard and the vessels, the 
“ Ironsides ” sailors went back to their rough quar¬ 
ters, and began to get settled. They were marched 
to a shack where the food was cooked, and drew their 
rations for supper. After mess they sat around 
their quarters and talked until nine o’clock when 
the hammocks were piped down, and the tired Bos¬ 
ton sailors turned in. It had been reported that on 
the morrow they would be assigned to the vessels, 
and would go aboard and finish getting them into 
fit condition to meet the enemy in battle, for it was 
expected that he might appear almost any day. 

The next day these deep-sea sailors were divided 
among the vessels of the fleet, principally the square- 
rigged ones, the Lawrence and the Niagara, the 
two large brigs, as the men were better-qualified to 
render efficient service on square-rigged vessels, and 
at guns in broadside batteries, than in the vessels 
peculiar to lake conditions. These smaller ves¬ 
sels of the fleet, schooners and sloops, had only a few 
guns, and some were too small to engage in any 
broadside-to-broadside work. 

John Heath found himself in the detail assigned 
to the brig Lawrence, flagship of Captain Perry, 
commodore of the squadron. 

John was assigned to a gun-crew on the spar deck, 
and given a place on one of the quarter-deck guns. 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 233 

This proved fortunate for him, as the results of the 
engagement showed. 

John saw that the Constitution men were assigned 
to guns by squads and not scattered among the gun¬ 
crews. It was intended to have the Constitution 
men serve guns in their usual way, and so stimulate 
the other gun-crews to good work. This proved 
better than the plan of scattering the deep-sea sail¬ 
ors among the others, where they might be objects 
of the jealousy or derision of the local sailors and 
laborers, and so be unable to have any use for their 
better and more complete knowledge of handling 
guns in battle. It was thought that the gun-crews 
of the Lawrence and Niagara who saw the way the 
Constitution s men went to work, would try to fol¬ 
low their example, and if possible to beat them in 
handling their guns with speed and accuracy; which 
would insure more lively work at every gun. And 
so it proved, for when the Lawrence found herself 
the target of several British vessels, and under a 
heavy and devastating fire, there was no chance 
for anything but a most earnest and active rivalry; 
the other gun-crews working with a will, in the 
effort to be as good at their work as “ those ‘ Old 
Ironsides ’ men,” as they called them. 

As soon as the crews were mustered they were 
set at work. The crew of the Lawrence were soon 
busy getting their brig to rights, and as there were 
so many greenhorns in the crew, the trained sailors 
had plenty to do besides the work, in teaching the 


234 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

green men what to do and how to keep out of the 
way. John found himself telling men where to go 
and what to do, at the commands of the officers 
which they did not understand, and his ability to 
help caused the commanding officer, Captain Perry 
himself, to notice the zeal and intelligence of the 
young sailor. Several times John happened to see 
Captain Perry watching him with a pleased ex¬ 
pression on his face, which only made him work the 
harder, and try to make clear to others their duties. 

It was one busy day, which the “ Ironsides ” spent 
on the fleet, before the hammocks were piped down, 
and a tired crew of the Lawrence sat around on deck 
in the warm August evening, resting from their 
tiresome labors of the day. They had made sail, 
and shortened sail; they had worked the brig into 
various positions under the somewffiat freaky winds 
of the lake. They had furled sails, and gone imme¬ 
diately to general quarters, exercising at the guns 
until their sweat spattered on the deck planks. 
The carronade-slides had squeaked and screamed 
as if the guns themselves knew what all this work 
meant. So when the crew were piped to mess, 
Captain Perry looked with pardonable pride 
over his crew, which during the day had shown 
steady improvement in every emergency. 

“ A few more such drills, and we shall be able to 
put the ship anywhere we want her, and do what 
we want to do with the enemy,” Captain Perry re¬ 
marked to one of his officers. 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 235 

“ Yes, sir, and the crew have responded nobly to 
work with which they were completely unaccus¬ 
tomed. How well the sailors from Boston have 
fitted into their places! I believe, sir, without them 
and their influence and example we should not have 
been anywhere near where we are to-night.” And 
the officer smiled with satisfaction as he, too, looked 
proudly down on a tidy deck, and an orderly crew. 
It was there that the deep-sea men had helped. 

“ I am not surprised that the men from the Con¬ 
stitution did so well, for they have been under fire, 
in a hot engagement; but I was surprised to see how 
much one of their boys knew of a sailor’s duty. 
Why, actually, he was telling men of our lake crew, 
older than himself, what to do; and he was telling 
them correctly. I watched him, and it was a real 
pleasure.” 

Fortunately for John’s pride he did not overhear 
this fulsome praise which his superior officers were 
giving him. However, Tom Patterson, one of the 
“ Ironsides ” happened to be near enough to hear 
most of the conversation, and he reported what he 
could. 

“ The old man, up there, was saying as how you 
knew your business like a real sailor. He said he 
almost thought of asking you up on the poop to 
give the orders,” said the sailor in a good-natured 
way to the boy, who, though tired from his exertions, 
was flushed with happiness at having done his work 
well. 


I 


236 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

“Did Captain Perry really say that, Tom?” 
asked the boy. 

“ He sartin did,” replied the sailor with a grin, 
“ and I set out to grab you and tost you up to him to 
use.” 

“ Oh, you’re foolin’, Tom. Go tell that to the 
marines,” said John making use of an old expression 
of sailors, who had such contempt for marines, that 
they thought they would believe almost anything 
that was told them with a straight face. “ Anyway, 
if I did well, I’m glad, for all I know I learned 
from you men.” 

“ My lad,” said Tom, “ you are a credit to your 
bringing-up,” and then Patterson walked away to 
another group of seamen who were sitting around a 
gun. 

It was not long after this that the hammocks were 
piped down, and the tired crew went below to find 
rest in their swinging beds. The watch on deck 
found places where they could take things easily, 
and the first night aboard the Lawrence began. 

On August twelfth, 1813, the fleet made its first 
cruise, sailing westward from Erie. On the twenty- 
fifth of the month it cruised off Malden on the 
Canadian side, and then took another turn west¬ 
ward, coming back near Malden by the first of 
September. That day the wind was freaky, blow¬ 
ing both ways during the day, making it possible 
for Captain Perry to manoeuvre in the vicinity of 
Malden harbor, watching for the enemy, but Cap- 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 237 

tain Barclay was in no better condition to meet the 
Americans than before, being short of men, a fact 
that was not known to Captain Perry at that time. 
So the British fleet lay quiet. 

Captain Perry continued during the remainder of 
the week to exercise his fleet in sailing manoeuvres, 
so that the crews would be able to handle their ves¬ 
sels under almost any possible conditions. 

“ I wonder what the Old Man is driving at,” said 
William Flukes, after the crew of the Lawrence 
had worked the brig into a different position, going 
off on the other tack, “ It would seem he didn’t 
know just what he wanted to do, or where he wanted 
to go. Here he’s been makin’ tracks all over this 
corner of the lake, till he’s got the cove all tangled 
up in courses. Where’d ye think he’s goin’, any¬ 
way? ” 

“ Never you mind about what the skipper’s doin’ 
or where he’s goin’,” replied* quartermaster Sam 
Bunting, “ don’t you remember how Old Ike on the 
Constitution kept us settin’ sail, an’ takin’ in sail, 
and tackin’ this way an’ that way, till the compass 
got tired chasin’ its tail. We wondered what he 
meant by it; but when we sighted the Guerrier he 
knew just how to sail the old girl, and he put her 
where he wanted her; which was not where the 
British wanted her. I reckon Cap’n Perry is a sec¬ 
ond Isaac Hull, and he’ll outsail them Britishers 
as easy as Captain Hull did; mark my words! ” 

“ You may be right, Sam,” replied Garnett, 


238 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

“ we’ve got so we know just about what this tight 
little brig can do, and we’re the lads what can make 
her do it. When those Britishers dare to look out 
at us I’ll bet ye the Old Man’ll jest jump at ’em, like 
a cat at a mouse, and if we can jump near enough 
to get in range for them carronades, we’ll do some 
damage; but God save us, if we are slow doin’ it, 
for the Britishers may have some long guns which 
would tear us up some, first.” 

The cruising kept on, and on September fifth, the 
fleet looked into Sandusky Bay, to see if the United 
States troops there were in need of support. As the 
military operations were going on well, Captain 
Perry pushed on, and on September sixth, anchored 
the fleet at Put-in-Bay, in the Bass Islands, where 
he could rest and be safe, and watch the enemy, 
should they make any attempt to cross the lake. 

For the next two or three days, the vessels of the 
fleet continued to make ready. Captain Perry re¬ 
quired daily drills at the guns, and inspections of all 
parts of the vessels. The captains were instructed 
to overhaul all rigging and to be sure it was in per¬ 
fect order for immediate use. Extra rigging to be 
used in making any possible repairs was to be put 
ready at hand. So far as possible, all extra spars, 
boxes or any kind of loose lumber was to be removed 
to reduce the amount of splinter-making material; 
and in every way the fleet was made ready to do as 
much execution as possible on the British vessels, 
ready and well-drilled and fit for an engagement, 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 239 

which were awaiting an opportunity, thirty miles 
away, at Malden. 

The British fleet included six vessels; two ships, 
one brig, two schooners, and one sloop. They car¬ 
ried 63 guns, some of them long twenty-four- 
pounders, throwing a total of 852 pounds of shot; 
their crews amounted to 502 officers and men. 

The American fleet consisted of eight vessels, such 
as they were: three brigs, four schooners, and one 
sloop; carrying fifty-four guns, mostly carronades, 
throwing 1,336 pounds of shot; the crews numbered 
490 officers and men. 

The two men commanding these opposing fleets 
were quite opposites. Captain Barclay, a man of 
middle age, was a veteran sailor, and had served 
in ships in Lord Nelson’s fleets, in some of his suc¬ 
cessful engagements. He was confident of his 
success, should the fleets engage. 

Captain Perry was a young man of twenty-seven 
years, but thirteen of those years had been spent in 
the service. He had seen some fighting in the West 
Indies, and considerable before Tripoli; so he was 
accustomed to seeing vessels working together, and 
was not afraid to undertake the work ahead of him; 
and his men knew it, too. 

Meanwhile, the crew of the Lawrence continued 
their activities, and were in prime condition for a 
fight. Everything was in working order. John 
Heath had run back and forth so many times be¬ 
tween the magazine and his guns, in drills, that he 


240 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

knew exactly how many steps he would take from 
the magazine to the companion ladder; and how 
many along the deck to the guns; and in the way of 
timing himself, he knew about how many minutes 
were needed for a round trip from gun to maga¬ 
zine and back. He found he could carry more 
powder-cartridges than he did on the Constitution. 
The sea air, good food, and regular life were making 
him larger and stronger. 

In this manner, the few days passed as the fleet 
waited at Put-in-Bay, until the morning of Septem¬ 
ber io, when about sunrise, the lookout at the 
masthead on the Lawrence sighted the British ves¬ 
sels to the northeast, coming down the lake under 
a southwest wind. 

“ On deck, there! ” he called. “ Sail ho! ” 

“ Where away? ” asked the officer of the deck. 

“ Dead ahead, about four miles,” replied the 
lookout. 

At once all was commotion on the Lawrence. 
Captain Perry immediately appeared on deck, and 
ordered the signals set to call the vessels of the fleet 
into activity. 

As soon as the other vessels read the signals, the 
anchors were raised, sail was made, and soon the 
fleet was under way, working out under a south¬ 
west wind, which moved them but slowly. In a 
few minutes it began to veer to the southeast, and 
steadied there, so the fleet had it just where it served 
the best. 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 241 

“ Looks like something was goin’ to happen this 
time, for certain,” said Tom Patterson as he saw the 
activities around, “ I’ll bet a cookie Old Ike would 
like to be here, now! ” 

It was a little after ten o’clock, as the vessels were 
working into position, that the Commodore made a 
final inspection on the Lawrence which was to be 
the flagship in the battle. He went around the 
deck, from gun to gun, stopping at each to examine 
it carefully, as a rifleman would examine his piece 
before he went out into the forest. He saw that 
each gun was in perfect readiness, and he glanced 
over the crews as carefully as he inspected the can¬ 
non, at the same time speaking pleasantly to the 
gun captain. 

Returning to his stateroom, he came again on 
deck, with a large blue battle-flag, upon which was, 
in large white letters, the last words of Captain 
Lawrence, as he was dying, on the unfortunate ship 
Chesapeake : 

DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP. 

Holding out the flag, Commodore Perry said, in a 
voice heard all over the ship: “ My brave lads, this 
flag contains the last words of Captain Lawrence. 
Shall I hoist it? ” 

“ Ay, ay, sir! ” they all shouted, and giving the 
flag to a quartermaster, who immediately bent the 
halliards to it, it was run aloft to the main topgallant 
masthead, the crew cheering wildly. 


242 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

It was another hour before the American fleet 
began to reach a position satisfactory to Commo¬ 
dore Perry, but the crews stood about their guns, 
passing the time in various ways. Some kept work¬ 
ing the gun a little this way and that, to make sure 
it would respond promptly when it was time to 
train it on the enemy. One man handled the can¬ 
non-balls affectionately, remarking, “ These blue 
pills will give the John Bulls such a physickin’ that 
they will be too weak to stand, while they are mus¬ 
tered in for surrender.” 

John Heath had grown so rapidly during his 
service, that he was becoming quite a sturdy youth, 
and he had been made one of the train-and-tackle 
men on a gun. He had been observant from the 
time he first began to run with his powder-bags 
from the magazine to the gun, on the Constitution, 
so he knew his duty well, and was able to keep up his 
share of the pulling and hauling, in drawing the 
cannon back from the ship’s side, or handling the 
breeching as the handspike men rolled it out of 
the porthole for firing; in fact, John knew not only 
his own duty, but that of every man in the gun-crew, 
though he was not heavy enough to do the work 
as easily as a full-grown man. 

And now six bells, or eleven o’clock had come; 
the two fleets were making toward each other 
slowly, as the wind was light. The crew of the 
Lawrence were all on the alert, ready and eager to 
see the battle begin. Sailors are naturally light- 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 243 

hearted; the conditions of the service were not se¬ 
vere, though strict discipline was insisted on, and 
enforced by severe punishments for infractions of 
a serious nature. So long as a man-o’-war’s-man 
has a comfortable place to sling his hammock, and 
enough good food to keep him from being very 
hungry, he does not worry over the hard work, 
though service on a frigate of the period included 
a good deal of gruelling labor, besides the dangers 
of the sea and of battle. 

The hour passed uneventfully, and the crew were 
called to dinner, Captain Perry believing that they 
would give a better account of themselves and their 
ship if they were not obliged to fight on empty stom¬ 
achs. “ A full stomach makes a stout heart,” was 
the belief; a belief which time and age have never 
been able to change. 

A hurried dinner was hardly disposed of when 
the boatswain’s whistle called to quarters, and the 
crew of the Lawrence ran to their guns. John 
immediately seized a bucket, and ran to the maga¬ 
zine. He was just returning with the powder- 
cartridges for his gun when a blast from the enemy 
swept the deck of the brig. Hardly a gun-crew 
escaped, and many a mess lost numbers. Luckily, 
John was untouched, so he ran to the gun and 
delivered his powder to the gun captain who im¬ 
mediately made use of it. The carronade was 
loaded promptly, and fired; but to no purpose, as 
the distance was too great. The short carronade 


' 244 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

was no match for the Detroit's long twenty-four- 
pounders, so for ten dreadful minutes, the little 
brig endured the terrible pounding, until she was 
in a position to use her own two long twelve-pound¬ 
ers, while she was working in closer. When she 
was in canister-range, or about 250 yards, she 
turned her side toward the wind, on the weather 
side of her antagonist, and so brought her carronade 
battery to bear in broadside. It was not close 
enough for really effective work, but under the 
circumstances it was better to try to reply, and con¬ 
ceal herself in her own smoke-cloud so the enemy 
could not aim so accurately, rather than to continue 
to stand the raking fire from the Detroit . 

The Detroit was much the superior for long- 
range fighting, because she had in her armament of 
19 guns, two long twenty-fours, one long eighteen- 
pounder, six long twelve-pounders, and her steady 
fire from a favorable range was tearing the 
Lawrence to pieces, aloft and below. 

John was kept on the jump trying to help supply 
his guns with enough powder to keep them busy 
returning the British fire, which was so deadly that 
his shipmates were suffering terribly. Dead and 
wounded men lay on the deck, and he was obliged 
to step over their prostrate forms, in his trips be¬ 
tween the magazine and the guns. To make the 
situation even more terrible, an occasional charge 
of grape-shot would come aboard, tearing the dead 
and wounded even worse. The deck was slippery 


THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 245 

with blood, and fragments of the dead and wounded 
men’s bodies were scattered about. In spite of his 
terrible surroundings John recalled how he had 
stood it on the deck of the Constitution in the battle 
with the Guerriere, and kept up his courage, for he 
was happy in the thought that the British cannon- 
shot had not touched him so far. 

The gun’s crews kept steadily at work. They 
were so desperately busy they could not speak. 
In their rage at being so mauled, and so unable to 
return the compliments, the men gritted their teeth, 
and their tense countenances showed their rage as 
they loaded and fired, regardless of the fact that 
numbers of each gun’s crew was steadily growing 
less, for by now the Queen Charlotte the next largest 
vessel to the Detroit, had turned her fire on the 
Lawrence, and the Hunter was getting into the 
action. 


* 


t 


CHAPTER XII 


perry’s victory ' 

For almost two hours the crew of the Lawrence 
continued to sacrifice themselves for their country, 
unsupported by any other vessels. The brig’s 
rigging was so shot to pieces as to make her practi¬ 
cally unmanageable, and accordingly so much less 
efficient; her crew more than half killed and 
wounded, the Lawrence was beginning to drop 
astern. Her rigging was torn to rags, and her sails 
were in shreds; her spars were too much splintered 
to hold the sails effectively; her guns had been dis¬ 
mounted till there was hardly more than one or two 
fit to continue the fire, if there were men enough to 
handle them, for out of a crew of one-hundred and 
forty-two men, twenty-two had been killed, and 
sixty-one were wounded; even the wounded being 
dressed in the cockpit had been struck and killed 
by the cannon-shot of the enemy which had pene¬ 
trated there. 

The fearless Perry himself was everywhere. 
Watching the movement of the enemy’s vessels, he 
conned his own as she staggered into the fight. He 
helped to serve a gun here; then rushed to do the 

246 


PERRY'S VICTORY 


247 

same at another which needed a man to help put it 
in position to reply. He did not seem to recognize 
that his ship was being put out of action without in¬ 
flicting corresponding damage on the enemy. 

And now the gun's crews had been so reduced that 
they had quit their posts to assemble at the most 
efficient gun left; for all but a few had suffered as 
badly as the crew; dismounted; knocked out of 
their breechings; with muzzles damaged, only one 
gun was really efficient. 

A few of the Constitution men were left to serve 
this gun, and among them was John Heath, the 
powder-boy, and he rushed back and forth as lively 
as if he were playing a game of ball. 

“Lucky boy, you!” said one of his comrades, 
“ You run so fast the British balls can’t find you. 
Keep at it. It’s your only safety. They’ve found 
too many of us so far.” 

“ There comes the Niagry! " cried one of the 
sailors, catching sight of the other American brig, 
which was coming up to join in the fracas. “ It’s 
about time that jade took hold and helped us,” said 
another. “ We’ve done our part, and been done 
badly, too. Let the Niagry come on! ” 

Just then Captain Perry came along to the busy 
gun-crew. 

“ Better stop firing, men,” he said, “ We’re done 
for here. Boy,” to John, “ bear a hand and lower 
that flag.” 

John immediately went to the mizzen halliards 


248 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

and freed the halliards of the battle flag, and 
lowered it, and as the flag reached the deck, Cap¬ 
tain Perry gathered it in his arms, and as soon as 
John unbent it from the halliards, called, “ Men, I 
want a boat. Some of you man that cutter. I’m 
going to the Niagara! ” 

The gun captain called away several men to 
draw alongside the cutter, which, towing astern, 
had escaped being seriously damaged by the enemy’s 
shot. The men took their places in the boat. 
John crowded in among them, and was not noticed 
in the confusion. Oars were shipped. The gun 
captain took the tiller. The boat was drawn 
abreast a porthole and held there while Captain 
Perry, with the flag wrapped about him, and lead¬ 
ing his young brother Matthew, who also had 
faced the fighting resolutely and without injury, 
they stepped down into the boat, and it was shoved 
clear of the battered brig. 

“ Give way, men,” said the gun captain, acting 
as coxswain, “Where to, sir?” he asked Captain 
Perry. 

“ Get to the Niagara as quick as you can! Pull, 
men! This fight isn’t done yet, by any means, and 
we must get back into it! ” replied the courageous 
officer. 

The four men at the oars pulled heartily, but the 
shot from the British vessels struck the water about 
them, almost touching the oar-blades. 

Captain Perry stood in the boat, where he had 



Captain Perry Gathered it in his Arms. Page 248 






PERRY'S VICTORY 249 

stepped when he entered it. The flag was still 
wrapped about him, making him a conspicuous 
figure. His brother clung to his coat, standing 
close to him. He watched the scene about him, 
observing the position and movements of both his 
own fleet and the enemy’s vessels. He gave one 
quick glance at the shattered Lawrence, from which 
they were drawing away, and then resumed his 
watch of the engagement. 

“ For God’s sake, Captain,” said the helmsman, 
“ sit down, and don’t expose yourself. You’ll 
draw the fire of the British sharpshooters, and we 
won’t get anywhere! ” 

Captain Perry immediately recognized the im¬ 
pulsive but not disrespectful request of the sailor, 
and at once seated himself, drawing his brother 
down beside him. Already his act had been dis¬ 
covered by the enemy, and their fire was being con¬ 
centrated on the little boat. Happily the boat and 
its precious freight was protected by some invisible 
power from the British shot, and, unharmed by the 
hail of shot and bullets rained about it, it sped on 
till it was alongside the Niagara, on the lee side from 
the British fire. 

It was a long fifteen minutes, that boat trip from 
the Lawrence to the Niagara, and every one of the 
harassed boat-crew felt relieved when the terrible 
ordeal of shot was over and they were able to stop 
rowing under the quarter of the Niagara . They 
looked back to the mangled brig they had left, 


250 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

which now was not to be recognized in comparison 
with her appearance as she went into battle. Ter¬ 
ribly torn aloft; her bulwarks a mass of splintered 
planks and timbers; only one cannon serviceable; 
eighty-three of her crew of 142 killed or wounded, 
she still was everything but a defeated ship. Her 
colors still flying showed her still to be holding out, 
but as soon as Captain Perry reached the deck of 
the Niagara the flag came down in token of sur¬ 
render ; but as no one of the British ships was in con¬ 
dition to take advantage of this, the Lawrence 
drifted out of action, with her crew of dead and 
wounded. She was surrendered, but not captured, 
and no British vessel ever reached her to send a 
boat aboard to receive the formal surrender. The 
Detroit, her recent opponent, was in fully as bad 
shape, and no other vessel was any better off, so the 
smart brig which went bravely into action was now 
drifting to leeward, her torn sides blood-smeared, 
from the mangled bodies of the brave men who had 
given their lives. 

John Heath followed Captain Perry and his 
young brother to the Niagara s deck. “ What do 
you think of it, boy? ” said young Matthew, who was 
acting as a midshipman, and so an officer over 
John, the powder-boy. 

“ It is a good deal like the time we took the Guer- 
riere with ‘Old Ironsides V’ said John, with a 
slight air of superiority in knowledge and ex¬ 
perience. He wanted him to understand that he 


PERRY'S VICTORY 251 

(• 

had smelled powder before, and was a veteran, 
while this was Matthew’s first experience in a sea 
battle. 

“Say, boy!” exclaimed Matthew, “were you 
really in that fight? That was a big one, wasn’t it? 
I’ve heard my brother talk about it. He thought 
it was a great battle, and wished he had been in it. 
I wish I had been, too; say, what’s your name? ” 

“ John Heath, sir,” replied John. 

“ How old are you? ” 

“ Thirteen years, sir,” answered John, and before 
Matthew could ask any more questions, their at¬ 
tention was drawn to what was going on around 
them, and there was no time for further conversa¬ 
tion. Captain Perry almost as soon as he reached 
the deck of the Niagara, exclaimed, “ Captain 
Elliott, why has this vessel been hanging back, and 
not supporting me? My brig has been torn to 
pieces; my crew killed and-wounded almost to a 
man, all because I did not have the support I should 
have received from you. You must have seen how 
I was being attacked by overwhelming force; why 
did you not come to my aid. It would appear, sir, 
from the position of this vessel, and the sail she is 
carrying, that you were trying to avoid closing with 
the enemy. Did you not see my signal for close 
action with the enemy? I hope I do not charge you 
wrongly, sir! ” said Captain Perry, with much em¬ 
phasis, an emphasis made more vigorous by the 
stern expression on his face. 


252 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

Captain Elliott hesitated a moment before he re¬ 
plied, then he said: 

“ Captain Perry, I deny the charge of any in¬ 
tention to avoid engaging the enemy. The Cal¬ 
edonia, which preceded the Niagara, and which 
was assigned to act as a supporting vessel was slow 
and held us back. It was impossible to pass her 
without disarranging the column as you had formed 
it. I also was depending on the Caledonia s long 
guns to open the way for the Niagara to come to 
effective carronade-range. I deny any attempt or 
intention to avoid rendering to my superior officer 
the hearty support in a duty, the assignment to which 
I received with every expectation of a successful 
outcome.” 

“ Very well, Captain Elliott, that is sufficient,” 
replied Captain Perry, “ I accept your statement 
as a full report of the situation. Direct more sail 
to be made at once; and since I am now making the 
Niagara the flagship, I desire you to take a boat and 
bring up those gunboats, which also are not engaged. 
I think the battle is yet to be won, but we have 
already done enough to make the remainder of the 
engagement short and effective. That is all, sir.” 

Captain Elliott at once gave the necessary orders 
to increase the sail on the Niagara, and then called 
for the cutter to be manned. As soon as it was 
lowered and ready, he saluted Captain Perry, and 
entering the boat was at once on his way to bring up 


PERRY’S VICTORY 253 

f 

the four schooners, each of which was armed with 
a long thirty-two-pounder or a twenty-four-pounder 
and one shorter but heavy cannon. 

At once Captain Perry began to inspire the crew 
of the Niagara to take their part in the fight. 
“ Men,” he said, “ we fought the Lawrence to a 
standstill. She has only one gun left, but has done 
great work. You have a full battery. We are 
going to break the enemy’s line; make every shot 
tell, and the victory is ours.” 

With a rousing cheer, the crew stood to their 
guns. Under the increased sail the brig forged 
ahead rapidly, passing the dull-sailing Caledonia. 
Captain Perry immediately ordered the helm put 
up, and directed the helmsman to steer so as to send 
the Niagara between the two British schooners at 
the head of the column, and into a position to attack 
the Detroit, which had become fouled with the 
Queen Charlotte. This put the two heaviest 
British vessels in a position where they were in¬ 
capable of defending themselves, and in a few min¬ 
utes the fire of the Niagara became so heavy and 
effective on the two entangled ships, that they were 
being raked with most disastrous effect. 

The gun crews let go both broadsides at the two 
vessels, as the Niagara wore, raking them terribly. 
The carronades screamed as they were drawn back 
on their slides, and as soon as reloaded were directed 
at the Prevost and Hunter, giving them the same 


254 A S0N 0F “OLD IRONSIDES” 

treatment as the two larger vessels. At the same 
time the other American vessels, the Caledonia, the 
Ariel and Scorpion engaged any enemy vessel they 
could reach with their short-range guns, and in a 
few minutes the flags of the Hunter, Detroit, 
Prevost, and Queen Charlotte came down in sur¬ 
render. The Chippeway and Little Belt tried to 
get away from the battle, but they were soon over¬ 
hauled by the Ariel and Scorpion, making the 
surrender complete. 

As the firing ceased on the Niagara, the begrimed 
and sweating sailors leaned on the guns, or sat on 
the deck, waiting the next order. 

" Lawrence crew, man the captain’s boat; ahoy! ” 
called the Niagara s boatswain, and luckily enough, 
every man who came in the boat bringing Captain 
Perry, responded. This time the air was still. 
No cannon were roaring, nor shot screaming over¬ 
head. No bullets spattered the water about the 
oar-blades. The smoke-cloud had lifted and was 
drifting to leeward, and not far away the mangled 
Lawrence could be seen drifting, but with her en¬ 
sign flying. 

The men took their places in the boat, John Heath 
among them. Captain Perry and young Matthew 
came over the side into the boat. 

“ Back to the Lawrence, men,” said the Captain. 
“ We’ll let the British officers visit us there, where 
they can see how Americans can fight.” 


PERRY’S VICTORY 255 

As soon as the Lawrence was reached, the boat 
crew at once set to work trying to tidy up the bloody 
deck. Captain Perry immediately signalled for 
prize-crews to be placed on board each British 
vessel, and then he found time to write with pencil 
on the back of an old letter, resting the paper on his 
navy cap, a dispatch to General Harrison, at 
Sandusky Bay: 

“ We have met the enemy and they are ours. 
Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. 
Yours with great respect and esteem, 

“ O. H. Perry.” 

Before the Lawrence men could complete their 
task of cleaning the deck, the boats from the British 
vessels bearing the officers, began to arrive, the 
officers coming on deck. Among them was Cap¬ 
tain Barclay, commander of the fleet. He was 
without one arm, having lost it at the battle of 
Trafalgar, when he was an officer under Lord Hora¬ 
tio Nelson, in that famous engagement; his other 
arm was bandaged on account of a wound just re¬ 
ceived in this battle. A young man, only thirty- 
two years old, he had seen a good deal of heavy 
sea-fighting, but now he was about to surrender to 
another young man, of less experience; one who had 
never seen a battle of hostile fleets. As he and his 
officers presented their swords by the hilts to Cap¬ 
tain Perry, the American commander said, “ I ac- 


256 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

cept this ceremony as proper, under the circum¬ 
stances, but I can not accept these swords of such 
brave and loyal officers. Keep them, and re¬ 
member this day with pride.” 

As soon as the boys could get together, Matthew 
and John resumed the conversation interrupted by 
the beginning of the action by the Niagara. 

“ You said you were thirteen years old, and have 
been in a big fight before this one? ” asked Matthew. 

“ Yes, sir,” replied John, “ and it was a big fight, 
though only two ships were at it.” 

“ You needn’t ‘ sir ’ me, John Heath, even if I 
am a midshipman,” said Matthew, “You’ve seen 
more fighting than I have, and I guess you know 
more than I do. You just call me ‘ Matthew ’ 
when we’re together, and my brother don’t see us; 
we’ll just be like two boys, and schoolmates, and 
then you can tell me a lot I want to know,” said 
Matthew. 

“Yes, sir—I mean, Matthew,” said John, “ I’ll 
be glad to tell you anything I can. You see, I can’t 
tell much about an officer’s work, and you don’t 
know about a sailor boy’s work, so we can kind of 
help each other, for I’d like to be an officer, some¬ 
time.” 

“ I’ll tell you what I’ll do! ” exclaimed Matthew, 
I’ll tell my brother, the captain, about you, and that 
you want to be a midshipman and I’ll get him to 
make you one! ” 


PERRY’S VICTORY 


257 

“ Oh, that will be first-rate! ” cried John, “ I’ve 
learned a lot from the sailors; how to tie knots, and 
their names; and the names of the sails and the ropes 
to ’em; and I know ’most all the standing rigging 
on each mast ”—“ What’s ‘ standing rigging ’? ” in¬ 
terrupted Matthew. 

“Why, it’s the ropes that hold up the masts; 
shrouds, fore and back-stays,” said John, who con¬ 
tinued, “ And I know all about a cannon. You 
see, I’m what the sailors call a ‘ powder-monkey.’ 
I carry powder in cartridges from the magazine, in 
the hold, to the men who are working the cannon in 
the batteries and if they are firing very fast I have 
to run and jump to it, up and down the companion 
ladders, like a monkey, I guess.” 

“ I don’t know anything about a ship,” said 
Matthew, a little sadly, “ I wanted to come here 
with Oliver, my brother, the captain, and so he 
took me with him when he came to the lake, and he 
had to make me a midshipman, of some kind or 
other; or he asked somebody at Washington, and got 
a letter back saying that if I was going to be as good 
as he was, I’d make an officer and a sailor, too. 
About all I’ve done here was to run errands for him. 
I tell you I’ll do it this very day, if I can, while he’s 
feeling happy over licking the British; but I may 
not get a chance. Anyway, I’ll go and look him 
up now,” said Matthew, and off he went to find his 
brother, who now was the greatest man on Lake 
Erie. 


258 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

Meanwhile, all the vessels of both squadrons had 
anchored where they were. Captain Perry at once 
ordered the dead to be prepared for burial; and 
the body of each honest tar who had given his life 
for his country was placed in his hammock, with a 
heavy cannon-ball at his feet, the hammock care¬ 
fully sewed around the body, and just when the 
September sun was setting in glory of clouds and 
blue sky, over the now undisturbed lake, the poor 
mangled bodies were committed to the blue waters. 
The chaplain, who with Captain Perry, trained and 
fired the last cannon remaining mounted on the 
Lawrence, before Captain Perry transferred his 
flag to the Niagara, read the burial service, from the 
bloodstained deck of the Lawrence, and the can¬ 
vas-wrapped forms of the heroes settled down 
through a long cloud of bubbles to their last resting- 
places. It was a solemn ending of a day of terrible 
experiences, of scenes of carnage, but a day of 
glorious success and important results. 

As rapidly as possible, temporary repairs were 
made on all the vessels of the two squadrons, and 
the next day they were moved to Put-in-Bay, the 
American rendezvous, whence Captain Perry dis¬ 
patched his message to General Harrison, by Mid¬ 
shipman Forrest. 

It took some time to secure the reports from all 
the vessels in both squadrons of the conditions on 
board, and the losses in the crews but when they all 
were received it was found that out of 490 Ameri- 


PERRY’S VICTORY 


259 

cans engaged, twenty-seven had been killed and 
ninety-six wounded. The British lost among 502 
men engaged, forty-one killed and ninety-four 
wounded. Captain Perry’s flagship Lawrence 
lost twenty-two killed and sixty-one wounded, being 
the greatest sufferer of the American squadron. 

Now that the campaign on the lake was practi¬ 
cally over, those of the Constitution men who were 
left began to wish themselves back on the Atlantic 
coast. John and Matthew found opportunity for 
frequent conferences, after the conversation which 
resulted in Matthew’s attempt to talk with his 
brother about John’s future. The captain was too 
busy when Matthew went to him, so he delayed to 
a more convenient day; at the same time, he told 
John that he would do all he could for him. 

“ I wonder what we’re goin’ to do now we’ve 
licked the Britishers off the lake,” said John, as the 
boys talked together. “ I suppose we’ve cleaned up 
about everything on Lake Erie that can fight, and I 
guess we Americans have got everything our own 
way, now. That’ll mean there won’t be much more 
fightin’ here.” 

“ What’ll we do then? ” asked Matthew. 

“ I don’t know what we’ll do, but I know I’d 
like to get back to the ocean again. I don’t want 
to stay here on these little boats, on a lake you can 
almost see across. I want to be on the real ocean,” 
said John in a somewhat contemptuous manner. 


260 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


“ I want to be on a real frigate again like the Con¬ 
stitution. I’d like to get back on her again. She’s 
a real ship.” 

“ I wish we could be on the same ship; you and 
me,” said Matthew in a wistful manner, “ and both 
of us be midshipmen. Wouldn’t that be just 
splendid. You’d make a mighty nice-looking 
officer; but I suppose I’ve got to stay with my 
brother, the captain. Perhaps I can get him to 
make you a midshipman, anyway, before you do 
go back.” 

The boys’ conversation ended then, and Matthew 
went below. He happened to find Captain Perry 
in a convenient situation, and immediately asked 
him to make his friend, John, a midshipman as soon 
as he could. 

Captain Perry listened to his young brother’s 
plea, and replied. 

“ Matt, that boy did well in the battle. He did 
his duty, and did it smartly. He was not fright¬ 
ened, and he even did a man’s work at times. I’ll 
try to get him a midshipman’s berth, at once,” and 
turning to his desk, he wrote a letter to the naval 
authorities at Washington, indorsing the promotion 
of John Heath, to the commission of Midshipman 
in the Navy. 


r 


CHAPTER XIII 

I 

STEERING SOUTHWARD 

Captain Perry recognized the good services of 
the Constitution men in helping organize and train 
the crews of the Lawrence and Niagara f the two 
square-rigged vessels; and knowing that fewer men 
were needed now that the British squadron had been 
defeated and captured, issued orders transferring 
them to the Atlantic seaboard, at Boston. Arrange¬ 
ments were made for the transportation by water 
to Erie, where they would be obliged to take the 
same route in return by which they came, and 
depend on the same kind of transportation. 

It was the fifth day of October when Quarter¬ 
master Sam Bunting mustered the sixty men of the 
one-hundred who came from Boston. They were 
outfitted with blankets, pea-jackets, and sou’west- 
ers, beside their usual clothing. The party was 
formed into five gun-crews of twelve men each, 
under command of a “ first gun captain.” The 
first and second gun captains of each crew were 
armed with cutlass and pistol. The men had strong 
staves to use as walking-sticks. 

Captain Perry reviewed the company as they 

261 


262 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 


went on board the boat which was to carry them to 
Erie. Before they marched aboard he said: 

“ Men, you have done your duty. You have 
served well. You helped to win an important 
victory. I hope you yet may serve our country on 
the seas.” 

The men gave three rousing cheers, and marched 
aboard the schooner; and soon were standing up the 
lake for Erie. 

The next day they left Erie, and for three weeks 
they traveled by boat and wagon, and on foot, until 
they reached Boston. 

To be once more in Boston was a most delightful 
feeling to John Heath. As he left the coach with 
the others of the party, he felt he was home again; 
though outside of the Navy Yard, and the berth 
deck of “ Old Ironsides,” he never had slept in a bed 
in the city of Boston. Now he was in the narrow 
streets he had become acquainted with, and in a 
short time he would be back again in the receiving 
ship, ready to engage in the same sort of work as 
a navy sailor as before. Although only thirteen 
years old his stature was almost that of a boy of 
sixteen, and he had developed physically and 
mentally to almost that age. Since he last was in 
Boston he had been many hundreds of miles away 
to the westward. He had been in another terrible 
naval battle; a battle that in some ways was the 
worst of all. Now he was back again, in Boston, 
safe and well. 

On his arrival at the receiving ship, John drew 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 263 

his hammock and position on the berth deck. He 
disposed of his property safely, and then went 
on deck to stretch and jest after his journey. 

John had not been on deck but a few minutes, 
before an orderly came among the seamen, calling, 
“John Heath! John Heath!” 

“ Here, sir,” said John, and he was given a long¬ 
shaped letter. It was an official-looking document, 
and John hardly dared to break the large seals, 
which bore the stamped coat of arms of the United 
States of America. 

He turned it over several times, looking at it 
carefully, and wondering who could have written 
him such a big letter. John was not accustomed to 
receiving letters; in fact, this was the first one he 
ever had received. 

Finally he mustered up his courage, and broke 
the seals, and unfolded the document. 

To his great surprise he found it to be a letter 
from the Secretary of the Navy, at Washington, 
Hon. William Jones, addressed to him at Boston. 
Then he read the letter, which was: 

Office of the Secretary of 
the Navy, Washington, D. C. 

October, 1 , 1813 . 

Mr. John Heath, 

Boston, Mass. 

Sir: 

You having been recommended to his office by 
Captain O. H. Perry U.S.N., as being a young man 
of upright character, and a well-trained seaman; 


264 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


and having served in the U. S. Navy with courage 
and fidelity during three naval engagements with 
the Enemy, conducting yourself properly and ef¬ 
ficiently. Being thereby well-qualified to serve 
in a higher position, you are hereby appointed a 
Midshipman in the Navy of the United States of 
America, to rank from October 1, 1813, you will 
render prompt obedience to all superior officers, 
and will be obeyed by all below you in rank. 

You are hereby assigned to the U. S. frigate 
Constitution, now at Boston, Mass., and are in¬ 
structed to report on receipt of this, to Captain 
Charles Stewart, at the Navy Yard, for assignment 
to duty. 

William Jones, 

Secretary of the Navy, 

Approved, James Madison, 

President of the 

United States of America 
By the President, 

James Monroe, 

Secretary of State. 

John Heath, a midshipman in the Navy! An 
officer, to be with other officers, and to wear a 
uniform, and have a sword! Could it be true ? 

Evidently it was true; the document showed that. 
It also showed that Midshipman Matthew Perry 
had been as good as his word, and had succeeded in 
persuading his brother, the captain, to nominate 
John to be a midshipman. He knew Captain 
Perry had watched him a good deal, after the 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 265 

battle; had seen him with his young Brother 
Matthew. Occasionally, had spoken to him. He 
had no idea that Captain Perry had found time to 
think of him, a powder-monkey, as being fit to be 
an officer, and go among officers. 

Matthew Perry was a long way from him now, 
being still with his brother, the captain, at Lake 
Erie; but he had remembered. How John would 
like to shake hands with Matthew, and tell him how 
grateful he felt. 

The next thing was to find out what he was to do. 

John began to hunt over the ship to find Quarter¬ 
master Bunting, to whom he always looked, as to 
a sort of foster-father; and this time he went to him, 
to ask him what he should do to get started in his 
new position. At last he found the old sailor, and 
he said: 

“ Oh, Mr. Bunting, I want you to help me. I 
have something to tell you! ” 

“ Well, shipmate, what is it? ” said the quarter¬ 
master. 

“ Please read this, and tell me what to do,” and 
John held out to him the letter from the Secretary 
of the Navy. 

The old sailor took the letter, wiped his eyes and 
read the communication. Then he folded it up; 
drew himself up as straight as he could, and raised 
his right hand to his hat, in a salute. 

“ I hope, sir, I am the first to have the honor to 
salute Midshipman Heath.” 


266 A SON OF (< OLD IRONSIDES " 


Then, dropping his hand and placing it on John’s 
shoulder, he said, “ My boy, I’m glad you’ve got 
this, for if there is a boy in the navy who deserves 
it, it is you. You’ve been a good, honest boy; done 
your duty always, and have tried to learn all you 
could. I’m glad, and I hope you’ll try to be as good 
an officer as you tried to be a good boy.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Bunting; I am glad you think 
I am fit for it; and I must be, if you think so; any¬ 
way, I want to be. But what shall I do now? ” 
asked John. 

“ My boy—beg pardon, sir; I can’t help speaking 
so, since we’ve been shipmates before the mast, and 
seen some tough fights together. The thing for 
you to do, is to go straight to Captain Stewart, and 
give him that letter. He’ll tell you what to do.” 
The old man checked a sob at thought of parting. 

“ Where shall I find him? ” asked John. 

“ I’ll go with you. I guess he’s at the office of the 
Captain of the Yard. I know where that is. Are 
you ready? ” asked the old quartermaster. 

“ Yes, I guess I’m all right and clean,” said John. 

“ We’ll go right along,” said Bunting, and he led 
the way over the gangway, to the pier. 

The man and boy walked along together toward 
the office of the yard-captain. The old sailor was 
particular to walk on John’s left, since he now was 
an officer. When they went into the office, Bunting 
asked a clerk where he should find Captain 
Stewart. 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 267 

The clerk directed them to another room, where 
an officer in uniform sat at a desk near the door. 

“ Whom do you want to see? ” he asked. 

“ We want to see Captain Stewart/’ said Bunting. 

“ What do you want? ” 

“ I want to introduce this young man to him, as 
he has an important matter to present to the 
captain.” 

“ Come this way,” said the officer, and he led to 
another door, where he knocked. 

“ Come in,” said a strong-toned voice. 

They went in, and there was Captain Stewart; a 
sturdy, energetic-looking officer, in undress uni¬ 
form. He turned in his chair, and seeing Bunt¬ 
ing exclaimed, u Bless my soul, Bunting! Is that 
you? I’m glad to see you. It’s been some time 
since we were shipmates. What can I do for you? ” 
and Captain Stewart held out his hand cordially, 
to the old quartermaster, who touched his forehead, 
with his hand, as he had removed his hat when they 
entered the room. 

“ Thank ye, Captain Stewart,” said Bunting, “ I 
want to introduce a young shipmate, John Heath, 
who can tell you his errand,” and he turned to John, 
as a signal for him to speak for himself. 

“ Well, young man, and what can I do for you? ” 
asked Captain Stewart, pleasantly. 

“ If you please, sir,” said John, “ I have this letter 
to show you,” and so saying, he handed the Secre¬ 
tary’s letter to Captain Stewart. 


268 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


The captain took the letter, and read it carefully. 

“ So, young man, you are to be a midshipman, on 
my ship. I hope it means earnest, honest effort on 
your part; and I shall do by you as well as you do 
by your office,” said Captain Stewart extending his 
hand. “ I welcome you into the United States 
Navy as an officer and a gentleman. What service 
have you had? ” 

John told of his service on the Constitution and 
at Lake Erie. 

“ Well, young man, you seem to have had an 
unusual schooling in some duties. Do you know 
much about the duty of a seaman; ever been aloft? ” 

“ Yes, sir. I was a powder-boy, and I had to go 
aloft to the skysails, and loose and take them in. 
I know something of a seaman’s duty and I waited 
on Lieutenant Morris, the first cruise.” 

“ Evidently you know how to behave among 
officers, then; and how officers behave,” said Cap¬ 
tain Stewart, “ though I do not advise a young 
officer to make all officers his examples. How is 
he, Bunting? Can I make an officer out of him? ” 
and Captain Stewart smiled pleasantly as he turned 
to the old seaman. 

“ All I’ve got to say, sir,” replied Bunting, “ is: 
if Mr. Heath makes as good an officer as he has been 
4 boy,’ he’ll never give you any trouble. I shall 
feel it an honor to serve under him, and take orders 
from him, for I know he’ll be right and just.” 

“ Well, young man,” said Captain Stewart, to 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 269 

John, “ You seem to be promising. Remember, 
you will make or mar your own future. I expect 
my officers and men, to the last one, to be honest, 
brave, and ready at all times to do their duty. I 
hope we may still keep up the reputation of the 
Constitution, as made by Captain Hull and Cap¬ 
tain Bainbridge. If so, there must be lively work. 

“ You now can go aboard the Constitution, and 
report to Lieutenant Ballard. I wish you success.” 
Then speaking to Bunting: “ I hope to have you 
with us, Bunting.” 

“ I hope so, too, sir,” replied the old sailor, “ I 
want nothing better than to be with you again, sir. 
It will seem like the old days on the brig Susan . 
Good day, sir,” and the man and boy went out, happy 
in the thoughts of their visit to Captain Stewart. 

The good-natured quartermaster accompanied 
John to the boat which ran between the yard and 
the frigate, and there took his leave, after shaking 
hands, as John thanked him for all he had done 
for him. Bunting expressed his regret that here¬ 
after their paths would run in different directions, 
“ But, I hope, sir,” he said, “ that I may always be 
of service to you, in any way you may need me. If 
so, command me. Good-by, shipmate. May you 
do well and be happy; and may we sail many leagues 
together.” Then he saluted the young midship¬ 
man, and went back to the guard-ship, while John 
went into the boat. 

“ I am directed by Captain Stewart, to report to 


270 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES " 


Lieutenant Ballard,” he said to the coxswain in the 
boat. In a few minutes others came to the boat, and 
it put off to the frigate, which was anchored a few 
hundred yards off shore. 

On reaching the deck, John immediately went 
to the gangway to the wardroom, and telling the 
marine sentry his errand, he went below, passing 
another sentry at the door of the wardroom. Enter¬ 
ing, he inquired for Lieutenant Ballard. 

“ I am Lieutenant Ballard,” said an officer, who 
was writing at the long table, “ What will you 
have? ” 

“ Captain Stewart told me to report to you, sir; 
I am John Heath, and am to be a midshipman on 
this frigate,” said John respectfully standing hat in 
hand before the lieutenant. 

“ Have you your commission, sir? ” 

“ Yes, sir,” replied John, handing the lieutenant 
the document. 

Lieutenant Ballard took the document and read 
it; then he looked John over, from head to foot, as 
if estimating how the commission suited the youth’s 
appearance; and in his mind, studying and sizing 
him up. 

“Very good, sir,” said the lieutenant. “What 
service have you had? ” 

John told him. 

“ Well, my boy, for a youngster, you have seen 
remarkable service. I wish I could have had your 
experience in those three engagements. They will 


STEERING SOUTHWARD • 271 

be remembered as long as Americans remember the 
history of their country. Evidently you were not 
wounded, and were mighty lucky to get out, with a 
whole skin. That battle on Lake Erie was a terri¬ 
ble experience, I’ve heard.” 

“ Yes, sir. It was awful on the Lawrence. The 
men were shot down, and we couldn’t move them; 
so they got shot some more. The deck was awfully 
bloody,” and John almost shuddered at the thoughts 
of the scenes of that battle. 

“ Well, sir; I guess you have the stuff in you to 
make an officer. Have you your uniform and 
equipment? ” asked Lieutenant Ballard. 

“ No, sir. I haven’t had time to get them yet.” 

“ Have you any money? Money enough to buy 
an outfit? ” asked the lieutenant. 

“ Yes, sir, I think I have. We got some prize- 
money from the two fights on the Constitution!’ 

“ Very well. Report to the purser, and tell him 
you have permission to go to Boston and get your 
equipment; and for him to go with you, if he can. 
If he can’t, let me know. That’s all, now. Report 
to me when you are equipped. No duty till then. 
Good day, sir,” and calling a marine orderly, he 
dismissed John. 

The orderly took John to the purser, who con¬ 
ducted him to the steerage, which was to be his 
quarters on the frigate. 

John was now formally introduced to the “ steer¬ 
age,” in a new capacity; as an occupant. He had 


272 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES 

been in the place several times before, in discharge 
of some duty as a “ boy but now he entered it 
as a lawful occupant, who was to consider it as his 
home aboard ship. 

The steerage on the Constitution was on the 
berth deck, aft of the rooms of the petty officers, 
which were abaft the mainmast. It occupied the 
whole beam-width of the ship, and was about 
twenty feet long. It was lighted by two round 
glass ports on each side, which were always closed 
at sea, and often when in port, so the supply of air 
must necessarily come from the open hatchway, in 
the centre of the deck above the room. Through 
this hatchway was the companionway to the ward¬ 
room, which occupied the rest of the deck aft of the 
steerage, and all the officer occupants of that room 
passed through this gangway. 

The midshipmen who were the occupants or in¬ 
habitants of the steerage, slung their hammocks 
closely, as there were about twenty of these young¬ 
sters on the frigate’s list. Their property was kept 
in lockers which ran around the sides of the room, 
and served for seats, or for mess tables. The space 
for each midshipman was about four feet long, 
by two wide, and a little less in depth. It required 
considerable order and care to keep the contents of 
a locker in any kind of convenience for access. 

John was directed by the purser to take the locker 
next to the after bulkhead, on the extreme starboard 
side. He went to it, and examined the interior, 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 273 

which sadly needed cleaning, but there was plenty of 
room at present, for John had very little at that 
moment to put in it. 

He turned to the purser, and said, “ Where, sir, 
will I get my uniform and equipment? I do not 
know just what I shall want.” 

“ Sure enough,” said the purser, “ But I’ll give 
you a list, and recommend you to a good house in 
Boston, where you can get your outfit at once. 
Have you any money? ” 

“ I have about two hundred dollars in a savings 
bank in Boston; besides my pay for this summer at 
the Lakes.” 

“ You’d better get busy right away, and have your 
kit filled at once,” said the purser. 

“ I have Lieutenant Ballard’s permission to go, 
if you will go with me, sir,” said John. 

“ It will be impossible for me to go with you, 
Mr. Heath. But I’ll give you a letter to the house 
where I get my uniforms, and ask them to attend to 
you at once.” , 

“ Mr. Heath.” How unusual that sounded to 
John, but he knew that was the way he was to be 
addressed, hereafter. No longer was it to be, 
“ Here, boy! ” nor would he ever again be referred 
to as “ one of them Bible twins,” or by any of the in¬ 
formal but friendly titles that had been given to him. 
It was his task, now, to live up to the title and the 
name, “ Mr. Heath.” 

John received the letter from the friendly purser, 


274 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

and at once made his way over to Boston to the 
tailoring establishment, and ordered his uniforms. 
Then he went to the savings bank, and drew enough 
money to pay his expenses, and have a little over, 
since his summer’s pay had not been received. He 
returned to the outfitters, and paid his bill, in¬ 
structing them to send his uniforms to the dock, by 
the second day, next. Then he returned to the 
frigate, and the “ steerage.” 

By prompt methods at the tailor’s, John was able 
to secure his uniforms and necessary equipment 
during the next two days, and it was sent on board 
to him, in a heavy kit-bag. He also secured toilet 
articles and small necessities, so that he was quite 
well equipped for a beginning. Meanwhile, he 
cleared out his locker, and had it in neat condition 
for his equipment, and was ready to report for duty. 

During the two days that John had been on the 
ship, he had picked up his meals where he could, 
not having been regularly enrolled on the roster of 
officers, and a mess established. So sometimes it 
was a long time between breakfast and supper, for 
no dinner occurred; or, if he did not get a breakfast, 
dinner about made up for the whole day’s meals. 
However, he did not suffer; and meanwhile the 
other midshipmen were coming aboard, and he was 
getting acquainted with them. Of the twenty en¬ 
rolled, only five had more sea service than he, and 
none of them had been in an engagement. This 
gave John the prestige of being quite a seasoned 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 


2 75 

veteran, and his mates in the steerage, began to ask 
all sorts of questions about a battle. 

As soon as John received his uniforms, he dressed 
himself, and reported to the lieutenant, as ready 
for duty. Lieutenant Ballard looking him over 
seemed to be satisfied with his appearance and 
bearing. He was at once assigned to take charge 
of a gang of sailors who were storing ammunition 
in the ship’s magazine. 

John had seen enough of the magazine, inside and 
out, to know what was required, and he did not 
hesitate to tell the men, the most of them being 
entirely new men to him, what to do. He was very 
watchful that everything should be done right; 
and that utmost safety should be observed. He 
superintended the stowing of the powder-kegs, and 
was careful to see that the shot was placed in the 
locker in an orderly manner, economizing all the 
space. The result was, that at the end of the work 
all the ammunition supplies that had been received, 
had been stowed; and yet the magazine was not 
filled; there was room for a further supply. John 
reported this to the officer of the deck. 

“ What! ” said he, “ did it not fill the magazine? 
It was the regular supply.” 

“ We tried to be particular about stowing it, sir; 
so perhaps we packed everything closer than usual,” 
said John. 

“ If that’s the case, Mr. Heath, you’ve done better 
than usual. We may be able to draw an extra 


276 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

supply, enough to fill the magazine. I will see 
it,” and the lieutenant went with John to the maga¬ 
zine, and saw that there was yet room for more 
powder and cannon-balls. The situation was re¬ 
ported, and later more ammunition was issued, and 
John was given the job of seeing it stowed, until the 
magazine was entirely filled. 

The officer of the deck, of that day, in conversa¬ 
tion with Lieutenant Ballard, later, said: 

“ If it should so happen that we have need of a 
full supply of ammunition, it may be that Midship¬ 
man Heath’s care in filling the magazine would 
mean a victory, instead of defeat.” 

“ I think you are right,” replied Lieutenant Bal¬ 
lard. “ I like the cut of that youngster’s jib; and I 
have no doubt he will be a very efficient officer. 
He has had heavy service enough to teach him a 
great deal. He will be an officer who did not 
6 climb in through the cabin windows 

Every day saw progress made in getting the 
frigate ready for sea. The blockade by the British 
ships was vigorously maintained, but that was 
no excuse for delaying preparations. Captain 
Stewart believed in preparedness in his ship and 
intended to have the frigate and its crew always in 
perfect condition; as he said, “To be able to run 
into a fair fight and stay till they won; or to run 
away from overwhelming and unfair odds.” 

So the whole crew, officers and men, was kept busy 
from daylight to dark. The rigging of the frigate 



John Reported to the Lieutenant. Page 275 . 









STEERING SOUTHWARD 277 

»• 

was thoroughly rattled down, till the seamen said, 
“ her braces and shrouds and stays were so taut, that 
the wind played tunes on them, for the sailors to 
dance to.” 

Every day a part of the crew was exercised in 
boat-drill. Three or four boats were manned with 
sailors and marines, all fully armed, and rowed to 
some place in the harbor, where a landing was made, 
as if under the frigate’s guns; and the whole body 
advanced against an imaginary enemy or fortifica¬ 
tion. Sometimes the fort on Castle Island was 
made the object of an assumed attack, and its ram¬ 
parts scaled by an energetic landing party. The 
long fields on Governor’s Island gave opportunity 
for more extended land-attack movements, and the 
Marine officers had a chance to exercise their force 
in field tactics. 

The seamen had their drills at everything in a 
sailor’s duty. While it was not safe for the frigate 
to attempt to manoeuver in the harbor, or to show 
herself in the lower harbor, where she might be 
seen by British lookouts, anchor was raised and 
lowered every few days, to train the crew at the 
capstan; and special weighing-crews were organ¬ 
ized, and their time compared, until quite a rivalry 
was developed, and instead of considering it a task 
to heave the anchor, these crews sought the op¬ 
portunity, in their zeal to beat each other. 

In the same way, the masthead crews developed 
a marked ability in reaching the tops, and showed 


278 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES" 

rivalry in letting fall, and in furling sail, and in any 
work aloft, until any set of sails could be made in 
short order. 

In all this work Midshipman Heath came in for 
his share of duty, and as he aimed to excel, he ad¬ 
vanced rapidly in knowledge of these duties and in 
personal efficiency. He was instructed with the 
other midshipmen in heaving the log, and in taking 
the sun and working out the ship’s position; 
although it was practically the same on each ob¬ 
servation, the practice in handling the sextant was 
perfected. 

The slow weeks became months, and still the 
frigate lay at anchor. 

“ I’m afraid we’ll ground on our beef-bones and 
garbage,” remarked one of the crew, when another 
month passed with no change, “ I hear when they 
were practising casting the lead, they found a reef 
was growing up under our bottom.” 

“ Never you fear,” replied a more sanguine mem¬ 
ber of the crew, “ Uncle Charles will find a way to 
get to sea, when the getting is right. He don’t in¬ 
tend to give this ship away to the British, and pass 
us over to Halifax or Dartmoor. You keep that 
head of yours cool, and your mouth battened down, 
and you’ll be better company.” 

“ I know this is very monotonous, gentlemen,” 
said Captain Stewart to his officers; but every night 
I feel that we are a little bit better prepared to meet 
an enemy ship, then we were in the morning. Keep 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 


279 

up your courage. I have a firm belief that we shall 
see blue water before long.” 

December came, and the Constitution still was 
idle; and the month passed to the last week. One 
day, after a storm of snow and wind, a privateer 
coming into port reported no British ships off the 
harbor, and apparently none in the bay. 

Captain Stewart, always careful to keep the pro¬ 
vision and water supply of the frigate complete in 
every way, saw his opportunity; there was no need 
of delaying for anything. That afternoon he 
warned his officers to be aboard by or before eight 
bells in the afternoon, and at that hour he gave the 
command to make sail and raise the anchor. No 
intimation had been given the crew of anything 
other than one of his “ surprise ” drills, so they 
went about the work as usual; but that was a “ some¬ 
thing ” in the air, that made them suspicious that the 
drill was more than usual. The fact that as soon 
as the sails were set and the anchor was apeak, the 
frigate was allowed to gain headway, caused the 
crew to believe that perhaps a cruise was really be¬ 
ginning. Then, too, all the boats had been swung 
at the davits, and presently they were hoisted in¬ 
board and stowed. All connection with the city 
was thus cut off, and the frigate moved out so sud¬ 
denly and quietly, that only the usual people on the 
water-front witnessed her going. She dipped her 
ensign as she passed the forts, and then held a course 
steadily down the ship-channel. 


280 a son OF u OLD IRONSIDES” 


There was a man aloft in the fore topmast cross- 
trees, with instructions to keep a smart lookout, and 
report instantly any sail he might discover, in any 
direction. The course given to the men at the 
wheel was due east, and as soon as the frigate had 
passed Boston Light she was headed for the open 
seas. 

For the next few hours she plowed steadily 
ahead on her course, until she was off Cape Cod 
far enough to take a more southerly course. No 
British cruiser had yet been sighted in any direction, 
so Captain Stewart directed more sail put on, and 
under the influence of topgallants and royals the 
frigate made appreciable progress. The course 
was given even more southerly, Captain Stewart 
intending to take a look through the West Indies, 
after watching the coast of the United States. The 
West Indies should produce British war-ships and 
merchant vessels; and American merchantmen were 
always trading in those seas. 

In spite of the captain’s well-conceived plans, 
the cruise was featureless. For seventeen days, not 
a sail of any kind was sighted, and only when cruis¬ 
ing among the islands were even small vessels seen. 
A few American merchantmen were spoken, and an 
occasional privateer slid alongside to say that 
British vessels of any kind were few and far be¬ 
tween. They were too few to be hunted, so there 
was nothing else for Captain Stewart to do but con¬ 
tinue his course farther southward. The Con- 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 281 

r 

stitution coasted along off San Domingo and Porto 
Rico, but these not being British possessions there 
were less chances of finding possible prizes. The 
ports of the Windward Islands were examined, 
until the northern coast of South America was 
sighted. By that time the winter was almost 
passed. It was February, 1814, and the tempera¬ 
ture was summer-like, so the crew of the frigate en¬ 
joyed the opportunity of swinging their hammocks 
on the main deck, where open ports gave them 
fresher air than reached the berth deck. 

On the morning of February fourteenth, as the 
frigate was sailing lazily eastward, off the South 
American coast, to the northward of the mouth of 
the river Surinam, in Dutch Guiana, the lookout 
at the masthead hailed the deck, 

“ Sail, ho! ” 

“ Where away? ” asked the officer of the deck. 

“ Broad on the starboard bow, sir.” 

“ What does she look like? ” 

“ A small vessel, on the starboard tack, sir.” 

The lieutenant went up the main starboard 
shrouds, until he reached a point where he could 
pick up the vessel with his spyglass; and after 
studying the craft, decided that she was an armed 
vessel. He at once reported the fact to Captain 
Stewart. 

Meanwhile the watch below had been awakened 
by the voices on deck, and they began to come up on 
the spar deck, to see what was in the wind. If there 


282 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


was any possible chance of an action, they wanted to 
be in it from the beginning. By the time the boat¬ 
swain was ready to pipe all hands on deck, the main 
deck was empty, and most of the men who were 
sleeping on the berth deck were coming up. 

Captain Stewart came on deck, and stepping up 
on a carronade, followed the direction of the lieu¬ 
tenant, and saw a small vessel, evidently putting on 
more sail, as if to get away from the Constitution, 
but the frigate, being to windward, was approach¬ 
ing rapidly, and soon would overhaul the smaller 
vessel. 

“ Pipe the hammocks up, Mr. Hoffman,” said 
Captain Stewart, to the officer of the deck, “ When 
they are stowed, we’ll beat to quarters.” 

“ Ay, ay, sir. Shall we order the fire out in the 
galley? ” 

“ Not until the coffee is made. There will be 
plenty of time for the men to get their breakfast. 
How does the enemy bear, Mr. Hoffman? ” 

“ South by east, sir.” 

“ Hold her steady, as you are. We’ll be down 
on her inside half an hour. Let me know if she 
shows signs of beginning to get away from us,” 
and the captain returned to his cabin. 

Lieutenant Hoffman sent word to the cooks to 
prepare the coffee, and to go ahead with the break¬ 
fast. Then he ordered the boatswain to pipe belay, 
at the guns, where the men had taken their places 
without command. The men fell out, but showed 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 283 

no inclination to leave the immediate vicinity of 
their guns, as every gun-crew wanted to be the 
first to get a shot in, when the order to commence 
firing should be given. 

In about half an hour Captain Stewart came on 
deck again. 

“ Better call all hands to quarters, Mr. Hoffman,” 
said the captain. “ She’s a small craft; too small, 
for us; but we don’t want her tattling around on us. 
So we’ll take her in.” 

The drum and fife beat to quarters, and the crew 
ran to their guns with greatest enthusiasm. 

“ Have the men had their breakfasts, Mr. Hoff¬ 
man? ” asked the captain. 

“ Their coffee was in the tub, all ready for them, 
sir,” said the lieutenant, “ but they poured it all in 
the lee scuppers. They said they wanted the tub for 
shot, more than they wanted coffee.” 

“ Well, if that’s their spirit, it’s gratifying. 
When a ship’s crew would rather fight than eat, it 
is time for the enemy to make sail. That settles 
this affair, if the difference in size hadn’t done it. 
All right, Lieutenant, let’s go ahead,” said the 
captain, and all thought of breakfast for any one 
was dismissed from their minds. 

The enemy ship was now plainly to be seen. She 
had been lying at anchor in the mouth of the 
Surinam river, but having seen the Constitution 
bearing down on her, evidently had raised her 
anchor, and was making sail, to get out of the way. 


284 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 


The American ship had not displayed her colors, 
so the enemy was in doubt as to her nationality. 
Presently she raised British colors, and immediately 
Captain Stewart ordered the United States flag set 
at the foremast-head, and ordered a gun fired across 
the bows of the British vessel. 

What had not been seen at first, on account of the 
river-fog which concealed her, was another vessel, 
not far from the schooner, but farther in, which 
was following her example. This vessel was a top¬ 
sail schooner, of rakish rig, and evidently a priva¬ 
teer, consort of the larger schooner. 

It was possible now to distinguish guns on both 
the vessels, and Lieutenant Ballard remarked to 
Captain Stewart, “ It looks, sir, as if we might have 
a pair of birds for breakfast.” 

“Yes, sir; and we will get them all right.” 
“ Mr. Hoffman,” to the officer of the deck, “ Luff 
a little, and let’s show them our teeth.” 

Answering to the helm, the frigate swung a little, 
bringing the starboard broadside to bear on the two 
schooners. 

“ Give them a shot across the bows, Mr. Ballard,” 
said the captain, and the first lieutenant directed 
the bow gun to speak to the British vessels. 

“ In a very few seconds, the gun was fired, and the 
ball struck the water not far in front of the bow of 
the armed schooner. The report of the gun, and 
the spray which spouted when the ball fell, seemed 
to cause some excitement on board the schooner. 


STEERING SOUTHWARD 285 

The Co nstitution was approaching the enemy 
rapidly; all her ports were open and the guns show¬ 
ing. Captain Stewart stepped up on the hammock- 
nettings by the mizzen shrouds, and hailing through 
his trumpet, said, 

“ What ship is that? ” 

“ His Britannic Majesty’s schooner Picton, six¬ 
teen guns. What ship is that? ” was the answer. 

“ The United States of America frigate Con¬ 
stitution, fifty-four guns; Captain Stewart. Sur¬ 
render, or I’ll blow you out of the water.” 

Meanwhile, the other vessel, evidently a priva¬ 
teer, was trying to edge away from what was sure to 
be a dangerous position; but Captain Stewart, in¬ 
terpreting her evident intention, hailed the Picton 
again: 

“ I demand the surrender of that other schooner. 
Both of you send a boat aboard.” 

As the Constitution was complete master of the 
situation, sail was shortened, the lighter ones being 
taken in, leaving the topsails and jibs; but under that 
sail she slid along, and came around across the 
bows of the two schooners, in a position to rake them 
both. 

Presently the colors on each of the British 
vessels came down, and a boat put off from each one, 
and in a few minutes reached the Constitution . 

The commanding officers of the two vessels came 
on deck, and were courteously received by Captain 
Stewart. They offered their swords, in formal 


286 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES " 


token of surrender, which were as formally received 
by Captain Stewart. 

“ Gentlemen,” he said, “ I commend your dis¬ 
cretion, which in this case, is certainly an evidence 
of unquestioned valor. You were entirely in my 
power, but you have saved probable loss of life to 
yourselves, and perhaps to us. Please come 
below,” and the two British officers, accompanied 
by Captain Stewart, and Lieutenant Ballard, went 
below to the cabin to arrange the surrender. 

In a few minutes they all returned to the quarter¬ 
deck. Two boats containing prize-crews, under 
command of two senior midshipmen went aboard 
the captured vessels. The crews of the schooner 
Picton and the privateer were transferred to the 
Constitution, and the two prizes immediately 
headed northward. 

“ That was like picking up money in the road,” 
remarked one of the Constitution seamen, as he saw 
the two vessels sailing away in company. “ I hope 
they make an American port all right, for they will 
give us a nice little bundle of money, when we get 
back from this cruise.” 

“ No doubt but they will,” replied his mate, 
“ they’ll head for New Orleans, probably, and sail 
around the Britishers which may be in the Carib¬ 
bean. I can almost feel that prize-money now. 


CHAPTER XIV 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 

Captain Stewart decided that it was useless to 
sail farther south; that British vessels probably 
might be found off the Atlantic coast, almost any¬ 
where between the West Indies and Nova Scotia. 
So he headed the frigate northward, cruising among 
the islands and then going westward until Porto 
Rico was off the starboard beam. The spring was 
now well advanced, so Captain Stewart began to 
think of a cruise on the Atlantic, into the path of the 
British cruisers coming from England to blockade 
the ports of the United States. He purposed to sail 
along the coast of Porto Rico, and then northward 
between Porto Rico and San Domingo, by the Nona 
Passage. 

One night when the Constitution was off Point 
Palo Seco the officer of the deck was on the wind¬ 
ward side of the quarter-deck, and his keen ear 
caught something different from the ordinary 
sounds of the sea. He listened attentively, and 
thought he distinguished a sound as of sails and 
cordage of a ship somewhere to windward, but the 
darkness concealed any possible vessel. 

287 


288 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 


He resumed his walk, and then stopped again and 
listened. The sound was more distinct, and seemed 
to be in about the same relative position, which 
would indicate that there was a vessel to windward, 
making about the same speed as the frigate. He 
swept the sea with his glass, but failed to distinguish 
the bulk of a vessel. 

“ Either there is a ship off there, or we are being 
paced by the ‘ Flying Dutchman ’ he said to him¬ 
self. “ I’ll try some other ears.” 

He called Midshipman Curtis, the midshipman 
of the forecastle, and asked him to listen. 

Curtis gave an attentive ear. 

“ Do you hear anything off there to windward, 
Mr. Curtis? ” asked the lieutenant. 

“ Yes, sir, I think I can hear a sound other than 
waves. Wait a minute, sir,” and he centred his 
attention more closely, “ Yes, sir, I can hear the 
creaking of rigging, and—there, sir, can't you hear 
it, now? The thump of a full sail feeling the 
changing of the wind? ” 

“ I was quite sure,” replied the lieutenant, “ that 
I could hear the sounds of a vessel not very far away, 
and apparently keeping up along with us. Present 
my compliments to Captain Stewart, and inform 
him that there is a large ship on our larboard beam.” 

Midshipman Curtis immediately went below, 
to the captain’s cabin, and reported. Captain 
Stewart at once came on deck. 

“ What is it, Mr. Shubrick? Do you think 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 289 

there is another vessel off our beam? ” he asked the 
officer of the deck. 

“ I cannot make out exactly, sir. It sounds like 
a large, square-rigged vessel; but I have not yet been 
able to catch any light, or to hear any orders.” 

“Never mind. We’ll be on the safe side, Mr. 
Shubrick,” replied the captain. “ Mr. Curtis, pass 
the word quietly to the watch on deck to stand to 
the larboard battery guns. Load and make ready. 
Cast loose and provide. Light the matches, but 
be very careful not to show a light anywhere,” and 
Captain Stewart continued to watch the darkness 
abeam. 

It was Midshipman Heath’s watch on deck, and 
he at once passed the word from Curtis, and the men 
took their places by the larboard battery on the spar 
deck, and prepared for action; John joined a section 
and assisted in the preparations. 

Captain Stewart and Lieutenant Shubrick con¬ 
tinued to watch for the stranger. Presently Lieu¬ 
tenant Shubrick exclaimed, under his breath, 

“ There’s a light, sir! It’s a lantern going from 
port to port! It’s a ship-of-war, and she’s ready for 
action! There, I see it again. She’s not over two 
hundred yards away from us, sir! ” 

Captain Stewart sprang on a carronade, and 
rising above the hammock-nettings, hailed in a voice 
that carried well over the sea: 

“ Ship ahoy, what ship is that? ” 

There was no reply from the ship in the darkness. 


290 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

Again Captain Stewart hailed: 

“ Ship ahoy, what ship is that? Answer, or I’ll 
fire into you.” 

Promptly, this time came the answer to the hail: 

“ This is His Britannic Majesty’s frigate La- 
Pique, thirty-six guns, Captain Maitland. What 
ship is that? ” 

With something of a chuckle in his voice, as he 
began to speak, Captain Stewart replied: 

“ This is the United States of America’s frigate 
Constitution, fifty-two guns, Captain Charles 
Stewart. Surrender, or I’ll fire into you! ” 

Immediately there was a sound of muffled orders, 
and a rattle of running-rigging, on board the British 
vessel, and it was evident that she was changing her 
course as rapidly as possible, taking advantage of 
the darkness to risk being raked, in an attempt to 
get away. 

Captain Stewart jumped from the gun on which 
he had been standing, and cried out, “ Larboard 
battery, fire! ” 

The gun-crews had been waiting anxiously for 
that order, and at once the matches were laid on the 
priming. Like one gun, the whole battery spoke, 
with a roar and a flash that lit the darkness for an 
instant. The British frigate was revealed against 
the blackness of the night. She had tacked to 
larboard, and was running free into the night. 
There were a few sounds as of splintering of timbers, 
indicating that a few of the Constitution's point- 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 291 

blank shots had hit the mark, even in the darkness, 
but no cries of men were heard, showing that 
probably no one was hurt. 

Captain Stewart immediately ordered the crew 
to the braces, and tacked the frigate in the direction 
of the enemy, but she had the start and showing no 
lights was difficult to follow. Nothing more was 
heard of her, and though the Constitution tried to 
follow her through the night no trace could be 
found, and by sunrise no ship was in sight. 
Evidently she had tacked and tacked until she had 
cleared the Constitution, and then headed north¬ 
ward through the Mona Passage. 

Captain Stewart continued his cruise through 
the Mona Passage. He kept to the westward of 
the Bermudas, watching along the coast of the 
United States, as he worked northward. Nothing 
developed. 

By the first of April, the Constitution was in the 
latitude of New York, and Captain Stewart began to 
bear to the eastward, toward Boston, where he ex¬ 
pected to find some British cruisers, blockading the 
New England ports. 

It was April third, a pleasant spring day, and the 
Constitution was well off the New England coast, 
it being Captain Stewart’s intention to run into 
Massachusetts Bay, if he did not find anything, and 
make for Boston and refit. All was quiet on board, 
when the lookout at the main crosstrees hailed the 
deck, with: 


292 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

“ Sail, ho. Two of them! ” 

“ Where away? ” immediately asked the officer 
of the deck. 

“Four points to windward; off the starboard 
quarter, sir.” 

“ Can you make them out? ” 

“ They look like big ships, sir. They’re coming 
up fast.” 

Lieutenant Ballard was on deck at the time, and 
he immediately reported to Captain Stewart what 
had been seen; and at once the captain came on deck. 

“ What are they, Mr. Ballard? ” he asked. 

“ Lookout says they appear to be two heavy war¬ 
ships, sir.” 

The captain and lieutenant turned their glasses 
in the direction indicated. 

“ They certainly are large ships, Mr. Ballard. 
I do not know of any of our vessels of that class, in 
these waters. I guess we better keep away for a 
while, until we know more about them,” then ad¬ 
dressing the officer of the deck, he said : 

“ Better make more sail, Mr. Winter. Put on 
to’gallants and royals, and have the studding sails 
clear if necessary to use them. Keep her away 
two points.” 

Lieutenant Winter summoned all hands to make 
sail, and in a few minutes the Constitution was 
drawing away from the two ships, which now 
seemed to be following her. Careful study of 
them through the glass satisfied Captain Stewart 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 293 

that they were not United States vessels, and he 
caught glimpses of the yellowish streak, that showed 
them to be frigates of about the same size and 
probable weight. Either one alone could easily 
be disposed of by the Constitution , but the two to¬ 
gether probably could overpower her; so as there 
was everything to lose by inviting a fight, Captain 
Stewart wisely decided to run northward to a port 
of safety, or until he could shake off the two British 
bulldogs. 

As the three ships seemed to be holding about the 
same positions, Captain Stewart felt that the as¬ 
sociations were too close for comfort, so he directed 
the studding-sails to be put out, and under that in¬ 
crease of canvas “ Old Ironsides ” made a per¬ 
ceptible gain. But the pursuing ships adopted the 
same tactics, and began to close up. 

The race was running along the Massachusetts 
coast, and already Cape Ann was in sight to the 
northwest. The Constitution was now heading 
almost directly for the Cape, with the wind south¬ 
east-by-east. 

“ There’s no use running farther north,” said 
Captain Stewart to Lieutenant Ballard, “ I’d run 
into Salem if I could, but its a bad channel to make, 
so I’m going to run for Marblehead, and get under 
Fort Sewell’s guns, and between us we ought to 
stave off almost any kind of an attack.” 

He directed the officer of the deck to make the 
course due west. 


294 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

Round came the frigate in splendid style, careen¬ 
ing as she turned short, until the starboard guns 
settled into their breechings, with straining that 
sounded like groans. 

The crew on deck were anxiously watching the 
progress of events. When they learned that two 
ships were in sight, and probably British vessels, 
their expressions of delight were outspoken. 

“ Now’s our chance to get two of ’em at one 
whack, to make up for that one that ran away from 
us in the dark,” said one. 

“ Here’s where we can fight both broadsides to 
once. That’ll make somebody hump theirselves 
to keep two guns goin’, at the same time.” 

“ We can do that all right, lad,” replied an older 
seaman. “ ‘ Charlie ’ has made every gun-crew 
equal to two; and this will be the time for us to show 
him what we’ve learned.” 

With such a feeling among the crew, an audible 
groan was heard when the course was suddenly 
changed. 

“Hear them guns moanin’!” exclaimed a sea¬ 
man, as the breechings strained. “ They’s disap¬ 
pointed worse’n we are, not to get a chance to speak 
to them British ships.” 

As he said this, he ran up to one of the deck 
twenty-four-pounders, and slapping his hand on the 
breech, exclaimed: 

“ Oh, you beautiful Black Bess; it’s too bad you’re 
all tuned up now and full of music, but you are 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 295 

not to sing your song this time! Never you mind; 
you’ll get a chance to, later, I reckon.” 

Captain Stewart laughed as he heard this re¬ 
mark, and speaking so that the man could hear him, 
said: 

“ It’s all right, my lad. There’s no use in wasting 
powder and shot shooting at bullocks. We want 
game animals. We’ll have another hunt later.” 

Turning to the officer of the deck, the captain 
said, “ Get me that man’s name. I like his spirit.” 

When the Constitution came about and went off 
on the new tack, the following ships were caught 
napping, and overreached before they changed their 
tacks. The Constitution meanwhile gained con¬ 
siderably, and was nearer the coast, before the 
British ships returned to the pursuit. Leadsmen 
were sent into the chains, and the chart was con¬ 
sulted as the frigate drew nearer the shore. 

“ Are there any Marbleheaders in the crew, who 
know the harbor well-enough to pilot us in? ” asked 
Captain Stewart of Lieutenant Ballard. 

Sailing master Hickson, who was standing near 
the wheel, watching the course of the ship, heard 
the question, and said: 

“ Sam Green is a Marbleheader, and he knows 
this shore.” 

“ Pass the word for him,” said Captain Stewart, 
and at once the cry ran through the decks, “ Sam 
Green, Sam Green, ahoy; Call Sam Green! ” and 
presently he came running to the sailing master. 


296 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES’’ 

“ Green, do you know the channel into Marble¬ 
head harbor?” asked the captain. 

“ Like the path in my garden, sir,” he replied. 

“ Is there good anchorage under Fort Sewell? ” 

“ Any big ship can lie there safely, sir, there’s 
five fathom, if there’s a foot, sir.” 

“ Go forward and con the ship in, Green,” said 
the captain; and the Marbleheader, proud at being 
called to so responsible a duty, took a position on 
the forecastle, and directed the course of the frigate, 
which now was a vital matter to ship and crew. 

The sea way into Marblehead is open; but there 
was a choice of channels leading to an anchorage 
by the fort. Green directed the course toward 
Halfway-Rock, and the Southeast Point, so that 
as the outline of the fort became more distinct, it 
was evident he knew the way. The flag was flying 
over Fort Sewell, and closer observation showed 
people thronging to points of vantage to see this 
thrilling race. 

The two British ships, like hunting dogs follow¬ 
ing a stag, clung to the chase and made for Half¬ 
way Rock, also; to try to cut off the Constitution; 
and as they now had the shorter line and freer wind, 
they began to creep up on the frigate; and by the 
time she was off the Rock and squared away for the 
harbor, they were almost within long-fire dis¬ 
tances; near enough so that they opened fire in hope 
of crippling the Constitution s spars, which would 
end the race in their favor. 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 297 

Fortunately, their guns were outranged, and the 
shot fell short, while the Constitution, drove 
steadily ahead to a haven of safety. 

Again, as in a former race away from a larger 
force, guns were brought to bear from the stern of 
the frigate, but her speed was more protection, 
and though the British frigates pressed her hard, 
Fort Sewell came to the rescue, opening fire on 
them, in a similar hope of wrecking top-hamper; 
but before they were close enough to be in danger, 
they hauled off and accepted the defeat in a sailing- 
race, and by the interference of a fort. 

As “ Old Ironsides ” came to an anchorage under 
the guns of Fort Sewell, she took in her sails rapidly, 
and dropped her anchor in five fathoms of water, 
safe and sound again. 

As the captains of the two British frigates saw 
the ship they desired to capture most of any in the 
United States Navy slipping away from them into 
safety, they suffered a disappointment difficult to 
measure. 

Captain Stewart sent ashore to find a pilot who 
could take the frigate to Salem by the inner or 
southern passage, at high tide, for he anticipated a 
boat attack, but thought in that event he might put 
up a running fight and get away to a still safer 
harbor. 

The boat brought back to the frigate Captain 
Knott Martin, a young man of about thirty years of 


298 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

age, but a well-qualified coasting captain and pilot. 
As he came aboard Captain Stewart said: 

“ If I had had you on board, I could have saved 
ten thousand dollars.” 

“ How so, Captain Stewart? ” said Captain 
Martin. 

“ Because I might have saved the prize goods 
I threw over in the bay. Not only did we throw 
over some of the ship’s stores, but we started our 
water, and then a lot of stores I took from prizes 
during the cruise.” 

“ Well, sir,” replied Captain Martin, “ we can’t 
help that, now; but we can make a safe run from 
here to Salem, even with the Britishers chasing us. 
How much water are you drawing? ” 

“ Twenty-seven feet, sir.” 

“ That’s all right. We can make it. When do 
you want to try it? ” asked Captain Martin. 

“ Just as soon as it is a little darker, after the sun 
has set, so as not to light our sails. That will be 
about six bells, or a little later,” said Captain 
Stewart. 

“ Very well, sir,” replied Captain Martin. 

As soon as the sun had dropped beyond the hills 
of Essex, the frigate was made ready for a quick 
dash out of the harbor. The wind had veered about 
east, which meant a beat out of the harbor, and 
then a tack on a southern course. 

Captain Martin went to the wheel and gave a 
course as soon as the anchor was apeak, and the 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 299 

frigate began to gather way, and by Captain 
Martin’s skilled direction “ Old Ironsides ” moved 
steadily and rapidly out, until she went off on the 
new tack, when with the wind on the larboard quar¬ 
ter she increased her speed, and it was not long 
before the light on Baker’s Island was dead ahead. 

At this point a boat was seen coming out toward 
the frigate, and when it drew alongside, the oc¬ 
cupant made it fast at the gangway, and climbed 
aboard. 

It was Joseph Perkins, keeper of the Light, 
who when he saw the frigate heading in toward 
Salem, he thought she must be trying to escape 
something. He knew British cruisers were off the 
coast, for at times he had seen them, but this chase 
was too far out and northward for him to see. 

When Perkins came on deck, Captain Martin 
was ready to give the piloting of the ship to him, for 
he was well-acquainted with Salem harbor. 

Perkins asked the draught of the frigate, and then 
gave directions as to the course. 

Captain Stewart stood at Perkins’ side watching 
every move, and frequently asked him how much 
water was under the frigate’s keel. 

The frigate continued to slip along, and in a few 
minutes she came around Naugus Head, and 
through the Eagle Island channel, into the harbor, 
and to an anchorage near the Beverly shore. At 
last she was in a safe haven. Captain Stewart ex¬ 
pressed his satisfaction to Perkins, and said: 


300 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

“Well done, Mr. Perkins. The Constitution 
has never been better handled in a harbor channel. 
You have served your country, by saving 1 Old Iron¬ 
sides ’ again from possible capture. I thank you 
profoundly.” 

For almost three weeks “ Old Ironsides ” en¬ 
joyed the safety of Salem harbor, and the officers and 
men the pleasures of going ashore among admiring 
people. Salem was a busy place, with fishing 
vessels trying to run out and back without getting 
caught by the roving British vessels; privateers 
coming and going, and their prizes coming in from 
time to time, and unloading their valuable cargoes. 
There were many social events for the officers, and 
enjoyable recreations for the seamen of the Con¬ 
stitution. 

On April twenty-third, Captain Stewart hearing 
that the blockading ships were off the watch, de¬ 
cided to make a dash for Boston. He called for 
the services of Perkins, and in the early morning, 
with a rising tide and a northwesterly wind, in¬ 
creasing in force, the frigate headed for Boston. 

Not a sail was in sight. Captain Stewart was 
anxious to make all possible speed, so everything 
was set, even to studding sails, and the frigate 
bowled along at top speed. 

As soon as Boston Light was abeam, sail was 
shortened, and the frigate headed toward the ship- 
channel. At that time the masthead lookout re- 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 301 

ported three sails to leaward coming up. It was 
the blockading squadron returning. They had 
missed their prey again. She had slipped out 
almost under their noses, and now was making for 
safety. 

“ Lucky Constitution ” she had been called, and 
again she had proved the accuracy of the title. 

The Constitution had not been in Boston harbor 
many days, when a boat was seen putting out from 
the city side, which, as it came nearer, seemed to 
be on an important errand. 

As it came alongside the frigate the sentry at the 
gangway challenged: 

“ Boat ahoy! ” 

“ On board the Constitution,” was the reply. 

“ Whom do you wish to see? ” 

“ We wish to see Captain Stewart, on important 
business.” 

The sentry reported to the officer of the deck, who 
went to the gangway, instructing the sentry to allow 
the party to come on board. 

Several gentlemen came up the ladder, one of 
whom was in military uniform of a general officer. 

“ To whom have I the honor of speaking? ” 
asked the officer of the deck. 

“I am the Adjutant General of the Common¬ 
wealth of Massachusetts, representing His Excel¬ 
lency, Governor Strong, and I desire to see Captain 
Stewart on important business,” said the pompous 
military officer. 


302 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

“ I will inform the captain,” said the officer of 
the deck, and calling an orderly, directed him to 
take the message to Captain Stewart. 

“ Tell him,” said the adjutant general, “ that 
a number of Boston gentlemen are also present.” 

In a few minutes the orderly returned: 

“ Captain Stewart presents his compliments, and 
requests the gentlemen to come to his cabin.” 

The officer of the deck, calling Midshipman 
Heath, to accompany him, conducted the party 
below, where Captain Stewart was writing at his 
desk, and announced the Adjutant General of 
Massachusetts, and friends. 

Captain Stewart received the gentlemen cor¬ 
dially, and extended the hospitality of the cabin to 
them. He also requested the officer of the deck 
and Midshipman Heath to remain. 

“ Gentlemen,” said the captain, “ I am honored 
by this visit; can I be of service to you? ” 

“ Captain Stewart,” said the adjutant general, 
“ It has been reported to His Excellency, Governor 
Strong, by citizens of Boston, that the presence of 
your ship in the harbor, is liable to become a menace 
and source of danger to the city, by being the pos¬ 
sible object of attack by British warships, should 
they force their way into the harbor. Not only 
would cannon-fire be liable to damage buildings 
and wharves along the water-front, but the enemy 
might attempt to raid the city, and no one knows 
what disaster might result. 


CHASING AND BEING CHASED 303 

“ Therefore, sir, I am here to request, in the name 
of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massa¬ 
chusetts, and of the City of Boston, that you remove, 
at once, the frigate Constitution from its present 
anchorage, to one in the lower harbor—perhaps 
President Roads—where the menace of its presence 
would be less. This favor will be much appre¬ 
ciated.” 

Captain Stewart listened attentively to the ad¬ 
jutant general, whose address seemed to be indorsed 
by the expressions on the countenances of the Bos¬ 
ton gentlemen, with him. They said nothing, but 
nodded their heads in affirmation. Then the cap¬ 
tain replied: 

“ General, and gentlemen: your appeal interests 
me as being an expression of ignorance of the de¬ 
fences of this city, and of a degree of selfishness and 
lack of interest in the United States Navy, which 
hardly seems possible, in such an enlightened com¬ 
monwealth, and from citizens of Boston. 

“ I am astonished that such an appeal should be 
made, much more, to have been conceived in the 
minds of patriotic citizens. The harbor of Boston 
is quite well defended by forts; no British ship 
would venture to enter the channel, which is intri¬ 
cate and difficult. Only a boat-attack would be 
attempted, and if undertaken could not injure the 
water-front. 

“ No matter where the frigate might be anchored 
—and this is the safest, most convenient location in 


304 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

the harbor—if attacked by the enemy I should make 
such a defence as would not endanger the surround¬ 
ings, though protecting the frigate to the utmost. 

“ This is a port of the United States of America, 
and Federal vessels have every right and privilege 
to anchorage and local protection. Not long since 
I took advantage of the protection offered by Fort 
Sewell, to seek refuge under her guns, in the harbor 
of Marblehead; but I heard of no complaint from 
the citizens of that loyal town, eighty of whose citi¬ 
zens are members of my crew; rather, they seemed 
glad to render service and protection to one of the 
most famous and victorious frigates in the United 
States Navy. 

“ I have taken refuge by lawful right, for the 
time being, in the native port of this frigate. Here 
she was built, and from here she sailed out to, and 
returned victorious from two engagements on the 
high seas, with our common enemy. 

“ General, and gentlemen: I shall remain at this 
anchorage until I see fit to leave the port for a 
cruise. If you consider the presence of this famous 
frigate a menace inviting attack, and fear the in¬ 
ability of protecting yourselves and her, then, for 
God’s sake, why do not Massachusetts and Boston 
establish proper fortifications and defensives at the 
many strategic points. That is all I can say. 
Good day, Gentlemen. I am gratified to learn 
Massachusetts’ and Boston’s patriotic sentiments.” 


CHAPTER XV 


“ CRUISING AGAIN ” 

NOW that the Constitution was again safe in Bos¬ 
ton, Captain Stewart had received no orders as to 
future movements, so he reported to the captain of 
the Navy Yard, that he intended to go to sea again, 
as soon as opportunity permitted. 

Captain Stewart knew too well that he could set 
no day nor hour for his next dash. The close as¬ 
sociation he had with the Juno and Tenedos had 
shown how strictly the coast was being blockaded. 
Reports from time to time had informed him that 
there were other British vessels engaged in the 
blockade: the Newcastle, fifty guns; the Acasta, 
forty guns, and the brig Arab, eighteen guns, were 
the three vessels that were sighted as “ Old Iron¬ 
sides ” was making Boston harbor, and it was proba¬ 
ble that others were off the coast farther southward, 
watching the entrance to Long Island Sound, and 
the approach to New York. It was plain enough 
that the Constitution was well trapped for the pres¬ 
ent. 

Boats well manned made careful and thorough 
soundings of the “ Hypocrite ” Channel, and 

305 


3 o6 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES" 

“ Shirley Gut,” establishing ranges and learning 
the situations at almost every hour of the tides, 
so that if a chance were offered, the Constitution 
could be taken out through the most convenient and 
safe route at the moment. 

It seemed a long time, that summer and autumn 
of 1814, on the idle Constitution. Thanksgiving 
Day was celebrated on board with as much hilarity 
as possible; and December came in, and the crew 
talked about the probability of being frozen in. 

Toward the end of the second week of December, 
a storm came howling in from the southeast, which 
piled the sea against the coast, producing high tides, 
and sent the British blockaders farther out to sea 
to keep off the harsh New England lee shore. For 
three or four days the easterly gales prevailed, and 
there was not a hostile sail in sight. 

Then, as suddenly, the wind chopped around, and 
blew from the west. Captain Stewart, as usual had 
kept all supplies filled to the limit, and a full supply 
of water below. He was ready for this opportunity. 
With the increase of the wind, he waited the top 
of the morning tide, and at the right time raised the 
anchor and with all sail set, headed down the har¬ 
bor, and toward “ Shirley Gut.” 

“ I’ll be blowed if the Old Man ain’t going to run 
( Shirley Gut ’,” exclaimed Tom Patterson. “ I 
hardly believed he dare do it, but there’s water 
enough just now; though by to-morrow I’m afraid 
it would be blowed back into the bay.” 


“CRUISING AGAIN” 


307 

The officers and crew were all on deck, mustered 
ready for duty in the emergency. The frigate 
came rapidly down the channel, headed toward the 
treacherous strait. It was a narrow channel of 
water between the end of Point Shirley and Deer 
Island. Ordinarily there was barely enough water 
to clear the keel of such a heavy vessel as the Con¬ 
stitution1, but with the increased depth provided by 
the tide and the deeper water from the easterly 
winds, the frigate entered the Gut and slid through 
without touching at any point. A heavy wave 
swept each side of the Gut as the frigate plowed 
through. The frigate had escaped from the harbor 
by an unexpected exit, and headed northeasterly 
to get an offing. In a few hours she was well away 
at sea, and Captain Stewart felt no anxiety as to 
meeting any of the British vessels, for he believed 
the heavy weather would compel them to give each 
other a wide berth, until the gale was over. 

As soon as he gained sufficient offing, Captain 
Stewart again headed southward, and made for his 
old cruising-ground among the West Indies. 

He was looking for any possible British mer¬ 
chantmen trading with the islands, for cargoes of 
goods desired in England. Everything on board 
the frigate worked like clockwork. Captain Stew¬ 
art was satisfied that he had one of the best crews 
that ever walked the decks of “ Old Ironsides,” if not 
the very best one. 

Again this cruise was almost as fruitless as the 


3 o8 A SON OF (( OLD IRONSIDES” 


last one. Day after day the masthead watch swept 
the horizon, only to see nothing but wave-tops; and 
it was not until December twenty-fourth, when not 
far off Bermuda, that the lookout surprised the crew 
by hailing, u Ship ahoy! ” 

“ Where away? ” asked the officer of the deck. 

“ Hull down, dead ahead/’ replied the lookout. 

The frigate was kept on her course, and a little 
more sail was given her, and under it she began to 
draw up to the stranger. 

After a little while, the officer of the deck hailed: 

“ Masthead, there, can you make her out? ” 

“ Seems to be a ship, on the starboard tack, sir,” 
replied the lookout. 

Captain Stewart, being informed, came on deck. 

“ This breaks the monotony, Mr. Ballard,” he 
said to the first lieutenant, as they watched the dis¬ 
tant vessel, now distinguishable from the quarter¬ 
deck. 

“ Yes, sir; and no matter what she may be, it is 
putting heart into the crew, and the bigger she may 
be, the better they’ll like it.” 

When the glasses were brought to bear on the 
chase, it was seen that it was not a warship, but the 
frigate pressed hard, and presently was in range. 

“ Better warn her, Mr. Ballard,” said Captain 
Stewart, and the lieutenant ordered a gun from 
the forecastle to fire across the bows of the ship. 
Immediately the shot went out. 

No second warning was necessary. The ship’s 


“CRUISING AGAIN” 


3°9 

sails were immediately let go, and she slackened her 
speed. The frigate still under sail, tacked to star¬ 
board, and stood across the ship’s bow. 

“ Ship ahoy; what ship is that? ” hailed Captain 
Stewart. 

“ The Lord Nelson, London for Jamaica. We 
surrender,” was the answer. 

A boat under command of Lieutenant Hoffman 
was sent from the frigate, and in a few minutes the 
British flag was down, and Lieutenant Hoffman had 
sent up an American flag, and took possession. The 
boat returned with the captain of the ship. 

Seeing that he was in the power of a heavy Ameri¬ 
can frigate, he had not stopped to ask what ship it 
was he surrendered to, and not till he reached the 
deck was the formal announcement made. Then 
Captain Stewart courteously informed him, that the 
fortunes of war compelled him take possession of his 
ship, and that for the time he and his crew must 
understand that they were prisoners to the frigate 
Constitution. 

“ Constitution! ” exclaimed the captain, “ That’s 
the ship we have heard was to be avoided like black- 
death. Our warships have been informed that she 
was cruising again, and they must avoid her if they 
were not well able to engage her; and the smaller 
ships and sloops were to cruise in pairs, so as to be 
able to fight her together. And here I am cap¬ 
tured by her. It was only three days ago that one 
of our warships spoke us, and warned me to look 


3 io A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

out for the Constitution; and blamed if she hasn’t 
got me! ” 

“ Don’t worry, my good man,” said Captain 
Stewart, “ Yours is not the first ship captured. I 
will run in toward Bermuda, and put your crew in 
your boats, so that you can make the island. You 
will not suffer while on board the United States of 
America’s frigate Constitution!’ 

The transfer of the crew of the Lord Nelson to 
the Constitution and the dispatch of a prize-crew 
under Lieutenant Taylor did not take long, and 
the prize was soon heading for the United States. 
The frigate resumed her course, but bearing east¬ 
ward toward Bermuda, and the next day sighted the 
island. The crew of the Lord Nelson were sent 
ashore in their boats, as Captain Stewart promised. 
The captain was profuse in his thanks for the courte¬ 
ous treatment of himself and crew. 

As there were no British vessels in the vicinity, 
Captain Stewart ventured to land at Bermuda, and 
secured some fresh provisions. What he learned 
on the island confirmed what the captain of the 
Lord Nelson had told him. 

This information delighted Captain Stewart. 
He accordingly decided to take advantage of this 
dread, and to make a bold dash across the Atlantic, 
and to try to encounter vessels in the East India 
trade of Great Britain, going and coming around 
the Cape of Good Hope, or trading in the Medi¬ 
terranean. A cruising-ground between Madeira 


“CRUISING AGAIN” 


3 ” 

and the Cape Verde Islands should be in their 
track, and at the same time, he might encounter 
cruising men-of-war protecting this commerce, with 
which he might try titles with hope of success. 

Accordingly “ Old Ironsides ” was headed east¬ 
ward, across the Atlantic. 

After an uneventful voyage the closing days of 
January, 1815, found the Constitution in the Bay of 
Biscay, having called at Madeira, where no British 
vessels were encountered. 

One night while cruising in these waters, the frig¬ 
ate was called on again, to prove her staunchness, 
on encountering a heavy sea, while driving along 
about nine knots, with the wind on the larboard. 
The lee hawsehole stopper came out, and every 
wave poured a waterspout into the lower decks. 
The flood swept the berth deck, and down into the 
hold. For a few moments all was excitement and 
consternation among the crew, especially the watch 
below, for in half-an-hour, with such an inrush of 
water the frigate would have foundered. 

The gunner ran on deck, and reported conditions 
to Lieutenant Shubrick, the officer of the deck and 
declared the frigate was sinking. 

Lieutenant Shubrick was not taken aback by this 
startling information, but calmly replied, 

“ Well, if she does, we will all go with her.” 
Then he gave the necessary commands. 

“ Let go the lee braces! Haul in the weather 
braces, and put her before the wind! Stopper the 


312 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 

hawsehole; and rig and man the chain-pumps. 
Lively, now! ” 

And it was a “ lively ” crew that went to work. 
For an hour and a half they worked until the ship 
was free of water. 

“ Had a good rinsing; and got the bilgewater out 
of her,” remarked one of the crew as they left off 
pumping, “ and I’ll bet she’ll be a whole lot sweeter, 
though it’s a hard way to clean ship.” 

One night while cruising off Portugal, a large 
ship was reported off the Constitution s bow, run¬ 
ning slowly and showing no lights. As the proba¬ 
bility of encountering a British warship was always 
in mind, Captain Stewart was taking no chances, in 
being too slow in his readiness to attack. Guns 
were ready, but not loaded, though ammunition was 
safely at hand. It was the work of a few moments 
to call all hands to quarters, although done with¬ 
out drum or fife. 

The Constitution ranged alongside the silent 
stranger, and the officers listened carefully for any 
sounds that might betray the nationality or probable 
character of the stranger. Nothing was heard, so 
Captain Stewart hailed. 

“ Ship ahoy; what ship is that? ” sounded from 
his trumpet over the hissing waves. 

No sound, nor answer came from the stranger. 

Again the hail was sent out; and again no an¬ 
swer was returned. 

Captain Stewart remembered Captain Preble’s 


“CRUISING AGAIN” 


3i3 

experience, in almost a similar condition. How he 
hailed and not being answered, threatened to open 
fire, if not answered immediately. So Captain 
Stewart hailed once more, and as the stranger held 
to its course, he directed the three forward guns on 
the spar deck to be shotted and fired. 

Immediately the roar of the guns broke the si¬ 
lence, and as the smoke rolled to windward, the 
crash of splintered timbers was heard. A cry of 
men arose; a jabbering in a foreign language, which 
indicated at once the stranger was not a British 
ship; so Captain Stewart hailed once more. 

“ Ship ahoy, what ship is that? We fired be¬ 
cause you refused to answer three hails. What ship 
is that? Answer, or we fire a broadside! ” 

That hail proved sufficient. An answer partly 
in English and partly in Portuguese was returned, 
and it was ascertained that the stranger was the 
Portuguese merchant ship Estrella, and they were 
sorry they did not answer the first hail. They were 
not much hurt, and regretted the incident, but 
showed no resentment. Inasmuch as they were in 
the wrong, they could not do otherwise. 

A few days later, February eighteenth, while 
cruising off Lisbon, a sail was seen to the westward. 
As usual, everybody was keen for the chase, more 
sail was made, and the frigate began to overhaul the 
strange sail which seemed to be headed toward the 
Straits. As the Constitution gained, the crew was 
called to quarters. 


3 H A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

Presently another sail appeared, headed toward 
the Constitution, and much nearer than the chase. 

“ ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’,” 
remarked Captain Stewart, “ Let us look at this 
bird,” and he gave orders to change the frigate’s 
course for the strange sail. 

She was a slow sailer, and the frigate approached 
her rapidly. Soon she seemed to discover what 
sort of a ship was approaching, and showed a Brit¬ 
ish flag. 

The Constitution kept on, without showing her 
colors, until almost in range, when the flags were 
sent up, and a shot was fired in the direction of the 
chase. It was now too late for the vessel to escape. 
The frigate closed in on her, and hailed. 

The answer was, that the ship was the British 
merchantman, Susan, bound for England. 

The Constitution dispatched a boat, with a prize- 
crew on board, and the Susan surrendered without 
a sign of resistance; and the more willingly, when 
it was learned that her captor was the dreaded Con¬ 
stitution, concerning which warnings had been sent 
out. 

The prize-crew was directed to take the Susan 
across the ocean as directly as possible, to Phila¬ 
delphia, or some southern port, to avoid the British 
cruisers, which were hanging around off the north¬ 
ern seaports of commerce. Then the Constitution 
returned to the chase of the other vessel, which ap¬ 
parently had not seen the incident, and continuing 


"CRUISING AGAIN” 


3i5 

on her way, was now hull down, and soon was lost 
to sight, so the frigate’s course was directed toward 
Cape Vincent. 

It was afterward learned, that this first ship 
chased was the Elizabeth, British seventy-four, and 
made the port of Lisbon, where it was informed that 
the Constitution was off-shore. It also happened 
that the British frigate, Tiber, thirty-eight, was in 
that port, commanded by Captain James Richard 
Dacres, who commanded the Guerriere when she 
was beaten to pieces by the Constitution a little more 
than two years before. Of course he was very 
anxious to meet his former victor again, so both 
the Elizabeth and the Tiber immediately pulled up 
anchor, and headed for sea. They spoke several 
vessels, which reported having seen the Constitution 
off to leeward somewhere, a day or two before. 
With this meagre information the two British bull¬ 
dogs raked the seas, but were always a few hours 
behind, and so lost all track of the frigate they de¬ 
sired. Meanwhile, the Constitution continued on 
her course, which was laid southward toward Ma¬ 
deira, and for a day pursued an uneventful route. 

During the forenoon it was noticed that the frig¬ 
ate did not seem to be doing her best. She was run¬ 
ning with the wind, but lacked life. Accordingly 
Captain Stewart instructed the officer of the deck, 
to have the sailing master see to a better trimming 
of the ship’s stores, for he believed that the daily 
use of wood and water had an influence. 


3 i6 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES " 

So Mr. Hickson with a large number of men 
entered the holds, and rearranged the wood-supply; 
shifted some of the water-casks, and took from the 
shot-locker enough cannon-balls, to make an ap¬ 
preciable difference in the trim of the ship, when 
placed in other locations in the hold. 

The result of this restowing of the stores was 
noticeable. The frigate seemed to show new life, 
and to be more responsive to changes in the sails 
and the rudder. 

“ She sails much better, Mr. Hickson,” remarked 
Captain Stewart, “ I think you have made her 
thirty per cent, more handy, and that means so 
much more efficiency. If we are so fortunate as to 
encounter another ship, as I believe we soon shall, 
you will be likely to see the advantage of your ef¬ 
forts.” 

As the captain said this, a number of the officers 
who were present on the quarter-deck were discuss¬ 
ing the fruitlessness of the cruise so far. Lieuten¬ 
ant Hunter, in particular, was grumbling at the ill- 
luck, and Midshipmen Cross, Curtis, and Heath 
were among the listeners. 

“ Here we are, across the ocean; well away from 
support, and in the track of commerce, and only 
one beggarly ship have we taken,” said the lieu¬ 
tenant. 

“ True enough,” replied Lieutenant Winter, “ it 
certainly is tough luck. We’ve got one of the best- 
drilled crews this ship ever mustered, and they’re 


“CRUISING AGAIN” 317 

itching for a fight. They’ll go stale before long, 
if we don’t get a chance to fire a broadside.” 

Captain Stewart turned from his conversation 
with Sailing Master Hickson, and said: 

“ Gentlemen, I think I can understand how you 
feel, and I sympathize with you; perhaps I feel the 
inactivity more than you, but I do not give up hope, 
nor do I spend my time in complaining. I am a 
man who is affected by certain overpowering ideas, 
that seem to be presentiments. I have been feeling 
some strange influence to-day; so I assure you, gen¬ 
tlemen, that before the sun rises and sets you will be 
engaged in battle with the enemy, and it will not 
be with a single ship.” 

“ Captain! ” exclaimed Lieutenant Ballard, who 
had not expressed any regrets at the situation, “ you 
put heart into us all. I am sure we do not doubt 
the sincerity of your presentiments, sir, but we shall 
be enthusiastic over them, if they are proved as soon 
as you say.” 

“ I am quite confident, Captain Stewart,” said 
Lieutenant Hoffman, the second lieutenant, “ that 
the ship and crew are ready and able to accept your 
programme, and if you give us two ships, be they 
big or little, the Constitution s crew will not haul 
down any flag but that of the enemy.” 

“There, Heath, do you hear that talk?” said 
Midshipman Cross, “ I guess we better get our kits 
into shape, and be ready for that big job.” 

“ That’s what I’m here for,” answered John, “I’ve 


318 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 


fought two, one at a time from this deck, and I’d like 
to try two at once. The guns in my section are all 
clean and ready. Bring on your ships.” 


CHAPTER XVI 

FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 

WITH the frigate sailing nowhere in particular, 
and no sail in sight or prospect of any engagement, 
other than Captain Stewart’s “ presentiment,” 
which occasioned some amusement, and sarcastic 
remarks, the crew of the Constitution grumbled 
over the fruitlessness of the cruise. Prize money 
had not been very much in evidence so far, and there 
was more desire for that than for an opportunity to 
defeat their country’s enemies. Meanwhile Cap¬ 
tain Stewart’s promise was circulated through the 
ship. The wardroom discussed it; it was talked 
over in the steerage by a group of eager midship¬ 
men. A few of the older ones, and John Heath, 
who had seen more service in battle than any of 
them, were listened to as they discussed the proba¬ 
bility of fighting two ships, and the possibility of 
beating them both. 

“ Of course there will be two,” remarked one of 
the reefers, “ Captain Stewart knows that they’re 
cruising in pairs, unless they’re big ones. John 
Bull’s keeping his big cruisers near the United 
States, so’s to hit us hard on the sea along the coast, 

319 


320 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

and then run in, land shore parties, and rob a town. 
I feel sure we’ll have our hands full.” 

“ If we should run against two ships,” said John 
Heath, “ we’ll be busy enough, for both batteries 
will be worked. We’re liable to lose a good many 
men, and be lucky if we come through it without 
being hurt ourselves, for we may have to lend a hand 
at the guns. I know no man will shirk. We 
sha’n’t have to shoot any man for not doing his duty. 
I believe we’re in for one of ‘ Old Ironsides’ ’ biggest 
fights.” 

Night came over the frigate as she continued in 
her seaway, with a crew sleeping peacefully in an¬ 
ticipation of a busy and victorious day. The watch 
on deck continued to discuss the probable engage¬ 
ment, and all felt perfectly assured that the Con¬ 
stitution would win, no matter if two ships attacked 
her at once. 

During the early hours of the morning watch, 
before it was light, Captain Stewart came on deck; 
and for no expressed reason, directed the frigate’s 
course to be changed 60 miles to the southwest; then 
he returned to his cabin, and his berth. 

The morning of February twentieth dawned with 
a damp northeasterly wind blowing over a choppy 
sea. The clouds were thick, and running low. 
The Constitution was about 180 miles northeast 
of Madeira, and the course on the wind was carry¬ 
ing the frigate toward the islands; she was running 
easily, under short sail. There was a watch aloft 


FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 321 

on the fore-topmast cap, alert, and studying the 
whole horizon. Routine duty kept the watch on 
deck busy; while the watch below was glad enough 
to be under cover from the .scud, which was almost 
a rain. Everything was in usual perfection of 
readiness for immediate use; but the officers on 
duty were looking over the guns and equipment on 
both decks, with considerable care. Officers and 
men were still talking about Captain Stewart’s 
“ presentiments,” and some of the crew had made up 
a pool, on the probabilities of meeting two ships. 
Each man had paid in a shilling, and in regular 
order, each one was to go on the spar deck, for five 
minutes, and watch for the expected sail. If he 
discovered it, he took the pot. The forenoon 
passed, but no one could claim it. 

Noon came, and the crew went to mess as usual, 
but it was cut short by the anxiety of the men to get 
on deck; and before two bells sounded the lookout 
on the fore-topmast hailed the deck: 

“ On deck, there.” 

“ What do you see? ” asked the officer of the deck. 

“ I just caught a glimpse of a large sail, as the 
fog broke, about two points off the port bow, sir.” 

In almost no time the news spread below, and the 
watch and everybody who could, rushed up the lad¬ 
ders, to get more information, or a sight of the 
stranger. 

After a few minutes, the officer of the deck hailed 
the lookout: 


322 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES ' 9 

“ Do you see her any better? ” 

“Yes, sir. She’s a large ship.” 

Lieutenant Ballard at once climbed into the main 
shrouds, until he could train his glass, above the 
mist, on the distant vessel. Then he returned to the 
deck, and communicated the results of his observa¬ 
tion to Captain Stewart. 

“ She looks like a heavy ship, sir. A two-decker; 
and probably, at least, a fifty-gun ship.” 

“ Captain Stewart climbed to the hammock-net¬ 
tings, and took a look at the distant vessel. 

“ Yes, Mr. Ballard; she looks like a warship, but 
I do not think she has quite the length of a fifty-gun 
frigate. She may be an old forty-four-gun two- 
decker.” 

Captain Stewart then gave orders to make all 
sail, and the crew went about it gladly. They 
swarmed up the shrouds into the tops, and when the 
order, “ Lay out! ” came, the yards were lined with 
men in quick order. 

“ Old Ironsides,” under a cloud of canvas, began 
to move with increasing speed, and soon was making 
at least eight knots as she headed for the strange 
sail. 

As the distance lessened, the officers’ glasses 
showed that the distant ship was not a two-decker, 
but was painted with two yellow stripes, and false 
ports in the waist to give her the appearance of 
greater gun-power. 

“ You were right, Captain Stewart, in your esti- 


FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 323 

mate,” remarked Lieutenant Ballard to Captain 
Stewart, “ She’s not in our class, so I guess she’ll be¬ 
long to us easily.” 

Just then the lookout was heard to cry out: 

“ Sail ho!” 

“ What is it, and where ? ” asked Captain Stewart. 

“Another ship, ahead of the first one, sir; and 
on the same tack. They are signalling each other.” 

“ Gentlemen,” said the captain to the near-by 
officers, “ There are the two vessels I promised 
you! ” 

By four bells the Constitution had drawn near 
enough to the strangers, to see that the two vessels 
were full-rigged ships, standing close-hauled on 
the starboard tack; and then began a very even race, 
the three ships holding about the same position, al¬ 
though the Constitution was gaining steadily. The 
two ships were standing to the north and east with 
the wind coming over the starboard bow, though 
several miles apart. The Constitution was driv¬ 
ing down the wind, carrying a full head of sail, 
when at about eight bells, the nearer ship was seen 
to be signalling the other, and presently she put up 
her helm, and wearing around, seemed to be more 
intent on reaching her consort, than meeting the 
Constitution. 

The American frigate was carrying plenty of 
sail, at this time, and the wind was freshening fast, 
when all of a sudden, the main royal mast broke off 
at the eyes of the topgallant rigging, which caused 


3 2 4 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

her to lose some distance. But after a very busy 
fifteen minutes work, the damage was repaired; a 
new mast was got up, and all the rigging unsnarled 
and re-rove, and again the “ Old Ironsides,” was 
walking down the wind, and speedily regaining 
what little she had lost in the race. 

During the last hour the glasses on the Constitu¬ 
tion had told the officers that the two strangers were 
warships; one a frigate, and the other a large sloop- 
of-war, ship-rigged; but not yet had they been able 
to estimate the armament of either. Presently the 
nearer, the frigate, began to signal again to the more 
distant ship; and as soon as she understood, both of 
them, evidently satisfied that the big ship coming 
down the wind after them was not one of their 
own, and therefore not to be trusted, stood away to 
leeward. 

“ We must not let them get away from us! ” ex¬ 
claimed Captain Stewart who had been watching 
the manoeuvres of the two ships, intently. “ Set 
studding sails, Mr. Ballard, and as soon as near 
enough, we’ll try a shot at them.” 

Under the influence of the studding sails “ Old 
Ironsides ” gained so that by three bells the two 
ships were about three miles away, and Captain 
Stewart ordered the ship prepared for action. 
Every man knew his duty, and the frigate was ready 
at once. 

By this time, the haze and fog had disappeared, 
and the sun came out in full splendor as it was setting 


FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 325 

behind a bank of clouds. The wind was brisk, but 
steady, and the Constitution only pitched a little, 
giving her long forward guns a steady platform. 
The nearer ship was now only a few hundred yards 
broad off the larboard bow, and the other had 
taken a position in column half a cable-length 
ahead. 

It was now six o’clock. The Constitution was 
plowing along with the wind, and hauled up her 
courses, stripping off her light sails, and throwing 
her flags to the wind from the mastheads. Then 
wearing around, she ranged up on the starboard 
tack, to windward of the two smaller ships, the 
larger on her larboard quarter about two hundred 
and fifty yards away, and the other about the same 
distance off the larboard bow. 

The gun-crews were at the larboard battery. 
The commander of the forward section was instruct¬ 
ing his men to aim at the foremost ship, and the 
quarter-deck guns were being trained on the other, 
so that when the command to commence firing came, 
each enemy vessel came in for a deluge of shot. As 
fast as the men could run and reload, they con¬ 
tinued to fire, and the British crews were as prompt 
in their reply from their starboard guns. For fif¬ 
teen minutes every gun on the three ships that could 
be brought to bear on the opponent was kept hot 
with discharges. The sun having set, the moon 
came out, and it was light enough for each ship to 
be easily seen. 


326 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES" 

But not for long. In a few minutes such a torrent 
of artillery fire created a cloud of smoke that con¬ 
cealed all the ships, and as the enemy’s fire was 
slackening, Captain Stewart ordered his men to 
cease their fire, to allow the smoke to drift away 
enough to be able to see the two ships. 

While the smoke was drifting to leeward, the 
Constitution forged ahead, and when it was clear 
enough to see the enemy, the smaller ship was 
abeam; and the larger ship, having more sea-room 
was trying to luff astern of the Constitution, to rake 
her. 

The moment called for rapid work. Having 
reloaded the guns with a double-shotted charge, 
the larboard battery went off in a tremendous broad¬ 
side, and a torrent of round and grape and canister 
swept all over the nearest ship, which quivered as 
if struck by a hurricane. At the same time Captain 
Stewart saw the menace from the sternmost enemy, 
and with Sailing Master Sam Hickson at hand, gave 
orders to brace the main and mizzen topsails flat 
to the mast; shook the foresails till they quivered 
in the wind; let go the jib sheet, and backed the frig¬ 
ate alongside the other ship, compelling it to sheer 
off to avoid being raked instead. 

It was a marvelous movement. Officers and men 
on the spar deck for the moment were amazed to 
see the frigate check her course, and hesitate a 
moment; then begin backing as if in a tideway, until 
she had the enemy abeam. 


FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 327 

No sooner had the broadside been delivered to 
the foremost ship, than the guns were reloaded and 
shotted again, while the frigate was working astern; 
and when she was abeam of the other vessel, both 
sections concentrated on her as they did on her con¬ 
sort, and another murderous broadside was dis¬ 
charged. For the time being this ship received the 
full attention of “ Old Ironsides and then, as it 
was observed that the other ship had recovered from 
her punishment enough to try to luff across the 
Constitution s bows and get in position to rake, 
Captain Stewart saw the manoeuvre and setting top¬ 
sails, pushed the frigate ahead, so that she crossed 
the wake of the foremost ship, before she could fire 
a gun, and gave her two raking broadsides in quick 
succession. That was enough for that Britisher, 
and, sheeting home her topgallant sails, she clawed 
off to westward out of the way of the terrible frig¬ 
ate with the u gridiron flags.” 

While the Constitution was administering her 
broadsides to the smaller ship, the other one was 
taking advantage of freedom from punishment to 
try to run away, too, but Captain Stewart caught 
sight of the intent, and wore ship quickly and 
started after the runaway, crossing her wake and 
giving a raking broadside as a warning not to at¬ 
tempt such a movement, when “ Old Ironsides ” was 
around. In getting away from this punishment, 
the ship wore also, and presented her larboard bat¬ 
tery, which she discharged into the Constitution s 


328 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

bow. “ Old Ironsides ” replied with her starboard 
guns, and for about ten minutes both ships were 
quite busy, but the American frigate had too many 
able seamen at the guns and sails, and at 6.50 o’clock 
the British frigate hauled down her flag, at the same 
time hoisting a light and fired a gun to leeward in¬ 
dicating that she had surrendered. 

Such a back-slapping and dancing and cheering 
as went on between-decks on the Constitution had 
not happened for a long time. The men on the 
spar deck danced around their guns, too, until the 
orders came to hoist out a boat; which was manned, 
and under command of Second Lieutenant Hoff¬ 
man went aboard the ship, to take possession. 

Lieutenant Hoffman reported back that it was 
the British thirty-two-gun frigate Cyane, Captain 
Gordon Falcon, commanding. 

For the next hour the time was spent in removing 
the prisoners to the Constitution, and making any 
necessary repairs to rigging. Then with a prize- 
crew aboard the Cyane, Captain Stewart considered 
it time to look after the companion ship. The 
Constitution filled away, and stood up-wind after 
the sloop-of-war which had taken the opportunity 
to get out of the fight, and make repairs, and splice 
rigging. 

It was dark enough by this time, being after eight 
o’clock, for the night and distance to conceal the 
movements of the two frigates from the consort. 
Having got into shape, she was brought about, and 


FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 329 

headed back where the last fighting had occurred, 
in order to find out about the Gyane’s condition. 
About two hours after the Cyane surrendered, the 
little ship appeared to the Constitution, and luffed in 
order to pass to windward; but failing, passed to 
leeward, when both ships exchanged broadsides. 
Before the smoke had drifted away in the light 
winds, Captain Stewart wore short around, cross¬ 
ing the enemy’s wake, and raked her with his bow- 
chasers. The Britisher crowded on all sail to get 
away, but the Constitution luffed up, hauled the 
tacks aboard, set the spanker and flying jib, and wore 
after her in close pursuit. 

Again, the chase-guns were turned on the flying 
ship, and after half an hour’s chase, the frigate 
reached a position off the British ship’s port 
quarter. 

“ Now, boys, get your guns ready,” said the cap¬ 
tain, “ One more broadside, and she’s ours! ” 

The orders of the officers, and the noise of the guns 
and carronades, as they were shoved into place, 
could be heard on board the enemy ship, and with 
rare discretion, her captain hailed, with the words: 

“ We’ve surrendered. Do not fire again! ” 

The Constitution worked alongside, and sent 
aboard a boat, with Third Lieutenant Shubrick, 
who assumed command of the prize. 

In a few minutes he reported that it was the Brit¬ 
ish sloop-of-war Levant, Captain George Douglas. 

When the Levant gave up the fight, the Constitu- 


330 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

tion’s crew indulged in another season of rejoicing, 
with hearty cheers and every form of exultation. 
A seaman from Cape Ann named Lancey, who had 
been mortally wounded, hearing the cheers and the 
shouting, raised his head, uttered a feeble “ Hur¬ 
rah/’ and fell back, dead. 

In this engagement the number of the crew had 
been reduced by six men killed, and nine wounded 
more or less severely. 

As soon as the two prizes were brought into reach 
from the Constitution all hands turned to and made 
repairs. They worked until one o’clock the next 
morning, and then the frigate was ready for another 
engagement; and the two prizes were in good 
condition. 

Lieutenant Hoffman reported that the Cyane 
had thirty-four guns; twenty-two short thirty-two- 
pounders, eight short eighteen-pounders, two nine- 
pounders and two short eighteens, which meant 
451 pounds of metal to the broadside. Her crew 
consisted of 185 men, of whom twelve were killed 
and twenty-six wounded. 

Lieutenant Shubrick reporting on the Levant, 
said she carried 21 guns, including eighteen short 
thirty-two-pounders, two long nine-pounders, and 
one twelve-pounder carronade mounted as a pivot. 
Her broadside weight was 303 pounds. Her crew 
consisted of 138 men, of whom twenty-three were 
killed and 16 wounded. 

The Constitution in this engagement carried 


FIGHTING TWO SHIPS AT ONCE 331 

fifty-two guns, and her broadside weight was 644 
pounds. Her adversaries carried fifty-five guns, 
with a combined broadside weight of 754 pounds. 

As soon as the two prizes were in readiness for 
continuing the cruise, Lieutenant Ballard took the 
place of Lieutenant Shubrick, on the Levant, and 
Lieutenant Shubrick acted as executive officer of 
the Constitution. The prisoners were made com¬ 
fortable as circumstances would allow, and the 
three vessels made sail for the Cape Verde Islands, 
and arrived in Port Praya on March tenth. 

Captain Stewart entertained the two captains, 
Gordon Falcon and George Douglas, in his cabin, 
where they accepted his hospitality as gentlemen of 
the same profession, rather than victor and van¬ 
quished. 

Nothing disturbed the run to the Cape Verde 
Islands, and finding it impossible to land the pris¬ 
oners on the Isle of May, the frigate continued to 
St. Jago, and there found the Susan which was cap¬ 
tured some time before. Captain Stewart decided 
to make a cartel, and at once began transferring 
the prisoners to her. 


CHAPTER XVII 


HOMEWARD BOUND 

In spite of the fact that the Constitution had 
about 250 prisoners aboard, and a somewhat re¬ 
duced crew, because of the prize-crews aboard the 
Cyane and Levant, the spirit of victory was very 
prominent in the feelings and expressions of the 
crew. To think that they had defeated and cap¬ 
tured intact two ships, of more combined gun-power 
than their own frigate, was something to be proud 
of; and had it not been that the men were thor¬ 
oughly trained and under fine discipline, their hap¬ 
piness might have led them to excesses of joy, to 
the neglect of duty. But all hands returned to the 
routine of sea life as if nothing had happened out 
of the ordinary. The usual burial service was held 
for the six messmates who had been taken as a pre¬ 
mium for victory; the wounded were made as com¬ 
fortable as possible, and those of the British vessels 
were given the full attention of their own surgeons, 
and such assistance from the Constitution's surgeons 
as was desired. 

As soon as the little squadron, of “ Commodore ” 
Stewart entered the harbor of Porto Praya, and an- 


332 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


333 

chored, the transfer of prisoners to the Susan was 
begun; and needed supplies of food and water were 
taken on board. This work consumed the rest of 
the day of March io. 

The next day, the work was going on; and by 
that time about one hundred prisoners had been 
transferred to the Susan, when “ Old Ironsides ” en¬ 
countered one of her most exciting experiences, and 
one of the narrowest escapes from capture, that 
the “ lucky ” ship had the good fortune to have. 

The day came in heavy with a fog lying close to 
the water, that could not be penetrated by the eye, 
and extended upward above the ship’s tops. A boat 
had just been dispatched to tow the Susan off her 
anchorage, and until it returned work was at a 
standstill. 

Lieutenant Shubrick the executive officer was 
“ planking ” the quarter-deck, with his mind on the 
duties of his position, when he heard a British mid¬ 
shipman, who was aft at the taffrail, exclaim in 
conversation with Captain Falcon, late of the 
Cyane, 

“ Oh, Captain Falcon, look at the big ship in the 
offing! ” 

“ Hold your tongue, you little rascal,” answered 
Captain Falcon, in a low tone. 

While their conversation, as Lieutenant Shu¬ 
brick had heard it, did not attract his attention, nor 
interest him, this change of tone on the part of both 
aroused his curiosity, but at the same time a quarter- 


334 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES ” 

master stepped up to him, and called his attention 
to the harbor entrance, where the fog had settled 
for the moment enough to reveal the topgallant 
masts and sails of a large ship, evidently coming into 
the harbor, though nothing below her crosstrees 
could be seen. 

Lieutenant Shubrick at once was excited by the 
coincidence, and as he said afterwards, he thought 
that there might be some kind of a conspiracy or 
double-dealing going on, for it was evidently that 
ship which the midshipman had spoken of. He 
immediately informed Captain Stewart of the ap¬ 
proach of a strange vessel. 

When the lieutenant entered the captain’s cabin, 
he found him in the act of shaving, and his face all 
lather. The lieutenant reported the situation, and 
Captain Stewart, without showing any excitement 
or anxiety, replied coolly, 

“ Very well, sir. It is an Indiaman, or it may be 
a frigate—call all hands, and heave short, and we’ll 
go out and see what she’s made of.” 

Lieutenant Shubrick returned to the quarter¬ 
deck, and ordered the call for “ All hands up an¬ 
chor.” Two more ships were then seen, and he re¬ 
turned with the information to the captain, who was 
still shaving. 

The captain immediately told Lieutenant Shu¬ 
brick to “ cut the cable,” and said it without cutting 
himself. Finishing his shave, he went on deck, 
and immediately ordered the signals set for the 



HOMEWARD BOUND 335 

other ships to follow. Then he ordered topsails set, 
and directed that all the prisoners should be sent 
below, under strict guard. 

Fortunately the commanders of the two prizes 
saw the signals at once, and without question obeyed, 
and so well-trained were the Constitution men, that 
in seven minutes after receiving the information, 
or ten minutes after the first ship was sighted, the 
three ships were standing down the harbor, under 
topsails. 

That was one of the times when the Constitution 
discipline told. All the idle days in Boston har¬ 
bor, under blockade had not been wasted; and if 
the British vessels held Captain Stewart safe at that 
time, now he was able to give them the slip again, 
although as yet no one had seen the hulls of the three 
strangers, though their character had been distin¬ 
guished. 

At this time Captain Stewart’s chances of escape 
seemed very doubtful, for the prisoners who had 
been transferred to the Susan, also seeing the incom¬ 
ing masts, and the American ships precipitately 
sailing out, went ashore to the battery and manning 
it, began to fire on the American ships, but what 
shot they put in the guns fell short. The volleys, 
however, served as a warning to the British ships 
coming in. 

The decks of the Constitution at this time were 
scenes of great activity. There was no confusion, 
for every man knew where he belonged and what 


336 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES " 

duty might be expected of him. Preparations for 
escape were rapidly made; two boats which were 
towing were cut adrift. The wind was fresh from 
the northeast, while the strangers were coming down 
from the south, against it. Captain Stewart led 
along as close to the north shore of the harbor as 
he dared, the Cyane and Levant following closely 
in the wake of the frigate, but holding to windward 
of the strangers. Just as the American squadron 
cleared the point of the harbor entrance, the fog 
broke enough to reveal it to the strangers, now in 
long range. Up till now no one had seen the hulls 
of these vessels, but now the mist seemed to settle 
nearer the water. The first frigate, seeing the 
Americans, weathered on everything, even her own 
consorts, and the British officers in the Constitution s 
lower decks, who had been anxiously watching 
what promised to them release, and capture of their 
captors, did not hesitate to conceal their delight at 
the probable outcome. They predicted the capture 
of the Constitution, and the recapture of their own 
ships. They declared the approaching ships to 
be the Leander fifty guns, Sir George Collier, com¬ 
manding; the Newcastle fifty, Lord George Stuart, 
and the Acasta forty, Captain Kerr. They said the 
two fifty-gun ships were new, built especially to de¬ 
feat the American forty-four-gun frigates. Of the 
Acasta, they expected much, being lighter and more 
lively than the Constitution which then was jogging 
along at an easy rate, keeping with her prizes. She 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


337 

was moving faster, however, than they imagined, 
for Captain Stewart knew how to get speed out of 
her, without making great efforts. 

As Captain Stewart went below, for a few min¬ 
utes, one of the British captains returned from the 
quarter-gallery, where he had been making signs 
to the weatherly frigate, hoping to attract her at¬ 
tention and invite her to come on, and remarked so 
that the American officers could hear, “ Captain 
Kerr, I envy you your glory this day! ” Then he 
turned to Captain Stewart, and remarked in a some¬ 
what sneering way, 

“ I assure you, Captain, I shall be pleased to re¬ 
turn your courtesies, later to-day, for your frigate 
has not the speed in her to keep her out of the hands 
of the ‘ British Phoenix' yonder. Captain Kerr, 
in the Acasta will make trial of your powers, pres¬ 
ently.” 

Captain Stewart replied, calmly: 

“ I am not entirely surprised, Captain Falcon, 
that you should endeavor to attract the attention 
of yonder ship, but there is a certain courtesy of 
war, which would make an officer, if he is a gentle¬ 
man, hesitate before he too openly attempted to re¬ 
venge himself. As to receiving your hospitality, 
do not be too sure. You may eat your supper here 
with me, to-night, and even later.” 

As the Constitution passed beyond the harbor 
mouth, she crossed topgallant yards, boarded her 
tacks, and set her staysails, and then added the 


33B A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

royals. The two prizes followed with their lighter 
sails. 

By this time the British ships had seen what the 
Yankees were doing, though they were outwitted 
so far; but they, too, hauled their tacks, luffed up, 
and turned to chase the Americans, now drawing 
away from them. 

, > 

It was now 12.50 o’clock, and the Constitution 
was again leading a beautiful race. She was about 
a mile or more to windward of the enemy, with her 
prizes well closed up. All six ships were on the 
larboard tack lying close up to the wind. The 
Newcastle and the Leander were off the lee quar¬ 
ter of “ Old Ironsides,” while the Acasta was far¬ 
ther astern, and losing way every minute. The 
two prizes were farther to windward. All the ships 
had every stitch of canvas, even to studding sails 
drawing, and were making about ten knots. The 
Acasta, being out of the race with the Constitution 
succeeded in weathering the Cyane and Levant. 
This condition was noticed by Captain Stewart, and 
he signalled the Cyane, which was then farthest 
astern, to tack to the northwest, in the hope of di¬ 
viding the enemy’s force. 

Lieutenant Hoffman, commanding the Cyane, 
at once obeyed, and instead of leading the Acasta 
after him, to the surprise of the watchers on the 
Constitution, sailed away free, the Acasta holding 
her course after the Constitution. 

“ Old Ironsides ” with the Levant, now had three 


HOMEWARD BOUND 339 

British bulldogs at her heels, and in a few minutes 
the Newcastle, the closest of the three, opened fire, 
but though the ships were in fairly close range, all 
the shots fell short. The firing ceased, and the 
race continued, until about three o’clock, when the 
British ships being nearer to the Levant, Captain 
Stewart signalled for her to tack away, as the Cyane 
had done. 

Lieutenant Ballard promptly obeyed, but to the 
surprise of every one on the Constitution, the three 
British ships, tacked after her, abandoning the pur¬ 
suit of the Constitution. 

The American vessels were now scattered in three 
directions. The Cyane made short tacks to wind¬ 
ward for several hours, and got away in safety, 
reaching the United States before the Constitution. 
The Levant changed her course, and headed back 
to Porto Praya, to take advantage of the protection 
of a neutral port, and be blockaded for an indefinite 
period. 

It was afterward learned, that although Lieuten¬ 
ant Ballard reached the harbor and anchored, that 
the British ships disregarded all international laws 
and customs, and Sir George Collier ordered the 
Newcastle and the Acasta to follow the Levant in 
and fire on her. The prisoners who occupied the 
shore battery also opened fire, and Lieutenant Bal¬ 
lard was obliged to surrender without resistance 
against such overpowering odds. 

When Captain Stewart saw the British ships turn 


340 A SON OF “OLD IRONSIDES” 

and follow the Levant, he saw that it would be bet¬ 
ter to lose that one ship, with its limited crew, than 
to attempt to chase the British squadron and engage 
them with the prospect of having three ships to 
contend with. He had just defeated two ships by 
a fortunate combination of conditions, which might 
not be repeated, so the only course for him to pur¬ 
sue, was to continue back to the United States, by 
way of some port where he could land and parole 
the remainder of the prisoners, who were a burden 
to him. Another reason for making good his es¬ 
cape was: Captain Stewart believed that as soon as 
the three British ships discovered that they had 
lost the frigate they desired to capture the most of 
any on the ocean, they would return to chase the 
Constitution and capture her if possible. So he 
held the frigate steadily to the course she was on, 
until he had run the British vessels out of sight; then 
he made a new course across the Atlantic until his 
first landfall was the coast of Brazil, and entered 
the port of Maranham, where he landed the British 
prisoners, under parole. 

Captain Falcon, formerly of the Cyane, was very 
glad to leave the Constitution, although he had been 
courteously treated by Captain Stewart; but hav¬ 
ing seen his ship escape easily, when he anticipated 
its certain recapture; and to have witnessed from 
an enemy’s deck the colossal blunder of three Brit¬ 
ish warships, in following the Levant, instead of the 
Constitution, when he almost had assured its cap- 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


34i 

tain of the capture of his ship, his situation in the 
cabin and at the table of Captain Stewart had be¬ 
come very uncomfortable. 

Another factor in the discomfiture of the British 
officers on the Constitution, was the fact that in the 
pursuing squadron of British ships were those 
which had been blockading the Constitution in Bos¬ 
ton harbor. The Newcastle and the Acasta had 
been actively engaged in the blockade, and through 
their carelessness the Yankee frigate had escaped. 
Two days after that event, the Leander sailed from 
Halifax for Boston, and encountered the other two 
ships cruising in search of the Constitution, and two 
other heavy frigates that had been reported as at 
sea with her. So the three vessels went a-roving, 
and at last blundered against the very ship they 
wanted to find, and by another blunder, allowed 
her to escape when she was almost in their grasp. 

So when the Constitution was able to land the 
British officers and the remainder of the men of their 
crews at Maranham, they were only too happy to 
leave a very unpleasant environment. 

Having discharged the prisoners, and obtained 
needed supplies, Captain Stewart turned the frigate 
northward, intending to make for the United States 
along the route so well-known, and after an un¬ 
eventful cruising across the Caribbean, called at 
Porto Rico, where to his surprise he learned that 
the war had been over since December twenty- 
fourth, when the Treaty between the United States 


342 A SON OF "OLD IRONSIDES” 

and Great Britain was made at Ghent, in which 
Great Britain recognized that the United States 
of America was a nation which would not allow 
further interference, and there could be no further 
impressment of seamen from American vessels. 
The fact that the United States ships had been so 
generally successful in engagements with British 
vessels showed that Great Britain no longer could 
claim to be the sole mistress of the seas. 

While the news of peace had been received in the 
United States on January eleventh, Captain Stew¬ 
art’s captures of the Cyane and Levant were legal, 
because of the location on the sea in which the en¬ 
gagement occurred. 

It was a very happy and contented crew that 
sailed the Constitution on this homeward cruise, 
for every one was delighted at having been in an 
engagement with two ships at once, the aggregate 
weight of broadsides of which was heavier than that 
of u Old Ironsides and the advantage was with 
the British ships, as the two were able to work to¬ 
gether, and choose their positions. That they failed 
dismally in this respect was no reason alone for their 
defeat, because they were engaged with a frigate 
which was esteemed by its own officers and men to 
be the most efficient frigate afloat. It had been 
handled admirably twice before, winning the fights 
handsomely, with little damage or loss of life; now 
that record had been emphasized by a remarkable 
victory, unusual in all naval annals. 


HOMEWARD BOUND 343 

Officers and men were enthusiastic over the skill 
of Captain Stewart as a sailor, in the masterly way 
he handled the ship; as a tactician in the way he 
met the enemy and engaged them, together and 
singly. 

From Porto Rico northward, the cruise of the 
Constitution was like a pleasure voyage. Since the 
world was at peace again, there was no need of 
continuing the stern discipline, which had been so 
necessary during the war. While seamanship was 
just as necessary, exercise at the guns at quarters was 
dropped to once a week, and then for only a short 
time. The officers and men were happy to feel 
that they were really homeward bound, with pros¬ 
pect of discharges or furloughs and then only cruis¬ 
ing service afloat. It would be necessary to over¬ 
haul “ Old Ironsides,” but it was expected that she 
might be laid up in ordinary for a time, now that 
the demands of war-service were done. 

One bright morning about the middle of May, 
the lookout at the masthead called, “ Land, Ho! ” 
and as the frigate plowed along about eight knots an 
hour, the stretch of shore began to be seen more 
distinctly. It was the Jersey coast, and by the mid¬ 
dle of the afternoon, the shores of the “ Narrows ” 
of New York harbor were abeam on both sides. 

Toward sunset, the Constitution was in the stream 
of the great Hudson river, which runs by the city 
of New York, and it was a lively crew which re¬ 
sponded to the call to lower the anchor; and when 


344 A SON OF <( OLD IRONSIDES” 

the big bower was down, “ Old Ironsides ” again 
was in touch with her own country, the country 
whose cause she had so nobly defended by signal 
victories, over the enemy ships. 

For the first time in many months the sails were 
furled, yards squared, and the frigate put in ship¬ 
shape order, to wait until further orders as to her 
disposition. Arrangements were made to give the 
men shore-liberty during the coming days. 

The next day the frigate was surrounded by all 
sorts and kinds of boats containing interested and 
curious persons, eager to see the hero-ship. The 
Cyane had arrived about a month before, and re¬ 
ported what the favorite frigate of the Navy had 
been doing, and the people of New York were 
ready to receive Captain Stewart as one of the 
heroes of the war, which was now over. The Free- 
dom of the City (in a box of gold) was presented to 
Captain Stewart, and the short stay of “ Old Iron¬ 
sides ” in the harbor was made delightful for all 
the crew. 

After a few days in New York, the Constitution 
sailed for home: for Boston; her birthplace, and 
the port from which she had sailed to win her great 
victories. It seemed good to Midshipman John 
Heath to look once more on the now well-known 
scenes of Boston harbor, but he thought whether 
this home-coming would mean any marked change 
in his life. He loved the service, and the more 
since he had begun to advance as an officer. 


HOMEWARD BOUND 345 

After the frigate was safely moored off the Navy 
Yard, Captain Stewart, before leaving the ship for 
shore quarters, addressed the crew, in a short speech. 

“ Officers and men of the Constitution,” he said, 
“ We have ended a remarkable cruise, in which we 
have sustained the reputation of this frigate, and 
been able to bring her back in safety, after a vig¬ 
orous service, to find peace again resting on our 
beloved country. We shall be separated from this 
ship for a time; perhaps no one of us will ever serve 
on her again, but we will always hold her name and 
fame dear in our hearts and memories, with the 
thoughts of duty well done, and splendid friend¬ 
ships made on board of her. I now bid you a fare¬ 
well, with much regret.” 

A few days later Midshipman John Heath went 
to the Navy Yard barracks, still an officer in the 
United States of America Navy, in which he was 
destined to render much more good service, and 
receive promotion. 


THE CONSTITUTION: “ OLD IRONSIDES ” 
[From the Boston Transcript ] 

Raise up her tattered ensign, at royal-mast and peak; 

Again, in her emphatic tones, let this old frigate speak. 

Through many years her name and fame were known 
around the world, 

For daring deeds, on many seas, when cannon shots 
were hurled. 

She still abides, a glorious, ship, a priceless heritage, 

From hopeful hearts and willing hands, to cheer the 
present age. 

Raise up her tattered ensign; renew her well-worn deck, 

And “ iron sides ” that never wave nor hostile shot 
could wreck; 

Reeve every rope; set every spar as trim as days of 
yore, 

The victor ship of other years shall plow the waves 
once more! 

Set all her sails, till drawing full they give the thrill of 
life 

That sent her always forward to greet the battle’s strife. 

Raise up her tattered ensign; and raise it o’er a ship 

On which not war nor tempest’s shock could lay a fatal 

grip; 

Restore her guns, and give them voice to shout again 
her fame, 

That generations yet may know the Constitutions 
name. 

Again may she the God of Storms face as in the days 
of old, 

And show the world a grateful land reveres this frigate 
bold. 

John Stuart Barrows 
346 










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